ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Commission

Bruce George: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, when the Committee expects the Electoral Commission to publish the code of practice in election observation on the UK as required under the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that the code of practice on attendance of observers at specified UK elections is being laid before Parliament and published today. The Government are at the same time bringing into force for Great Britain the legislative provisions which allow for the presence of observers at specified elections. The commission is publishing the code of practice in full on its website and is sending a copy of the relevant parts to all returning officers in Great Britain.

PRIME MINISTER

British Food

James Paice: To ask the Prime Minister what proportion of food served in 10 Downing street was of British origin in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006.

Tony Blair: My office supports the public sector food procurement initiative and is working with its suppliers to encourage them to increase opportunities for more small and local producers to join their supply chains.

Ministerial Visits

Simon Hughes: To ask the Prime Minister what visits he has made to hospitals in South London since the last general election.

Tony Blair: Records of official visits are not held in the format requested. My visits cover a range of matters including health, education, criminal justice and the economy and I have visited a number of hospitals since 1997.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the gross domestic product of Afghanistan was in each year between 1995 and 2006.

Hilary Benn: Records of gross domestic product in Afghanistan are patchy prior to 2001. In 1975 GDP was estimated at $2.4 billion. In 2002, the International Monetary Fund reported GDP at $4.1 billion, which has been steadily increasing on an annual basis to $4.6 billion in 2003, $6.0 billion in 2004, $7.3 billion in 2005 and $8.9 billion in 2006.
	These statistics are available on the IMF's website www.imf.org.

Afghanistan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what unemployment was in Afghanistan in each year between 1995 and 2006.

Hilary Benn: Given Afghanistan's predominantly informal economy and absence of a welfare system, added to the lack of a robust data collection capability, there is no reliable data for unemployment in Afghanistan going back to 1995.
	Although data collection by the Central Statistical Office is improving, it is not yet possible to provide reliable estimates of unemployment. DFID and other donors are working with the Government of Afghanistan to improve access to key data such as rates of unemployment.

Afghanistan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many  (a) primary schools,  (b) secondary schools and  (c) higher education institutions there were in Afghanistan in each year between 1995 and 2006.

Hilary Benn: Afghanistan's Ministry of Education is unable to provide us with the data on the number of primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions in Afghanistan in each year between 1995 and 2006.
	Enrolment rates may, however, provide a better measure of progress in education to date. According to UNICEF, enrolment has increased sharply since 2001 from 1.2 million in March 2002 to 5.1 million in December 2005. Prior to that, a World Bank report(1) shows that approximately only 970,000 children (grades 1-12) were enrolled at school per year from 1993 and 1999.
	(1) Afghanistan: Managing Public Finances for Development—Volume IV (December 2005)

Climate Change

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department were allocated to working on climate change adaptation and mitigation issues in each of the last three financial years.

Gareth Thomas: Implementing DFID's climate change policies on adaptation and mitigation in country programmes involves a range of staff, including programme managers and advisers with environment, livelihoods and infrastructure responsibilities. For example:
	In Bangladesh, China and India the numbers of advisers working on environmental issues over the last three years (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07) is: Bangladesh: 0, 1, 1; China: 1, 2, 2; India 3, 2, 2. However the proportion of time spent on climate change has increased over the period. A new post has been created in Brazil on climate change and markets starting 2007-08.
	The work of advisers in the Environment, Infrastructure and Livelihoods groups, while not necessarily dedicated to climate change, covers aspects of the subject, for example adaptation in agricultural research or in infrastructure design. The numbers of internal posts over the 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 financial years are as follows:
	Environment posts: 20, 18.5, 22.5 (includes GEA climate change posts)
	Infrastructure posts: 29, 27, 34
	Livelihoods posts: 49, 45.5, 45.5
	The Global Environmental Assets team of the Sustainable Development Group leads on climate change policy work. Its complement of dedicated staff working on climate change over the last three financial years is as follows: 3 in 2004-05, 3.5 in 2005-06 and 5.5 in 2006-07. We expect to fill two additional posts in coming months.
	In addition, we are externally recruiting a new Head of Profession for Environment who will also be engaged on this important issue. The Heads of Profession for Infrastructure and Livelihoods continue to provide support to DFID's climate change work. DFID's Chief Scientific Adviser has been providing support on climate change and agriculture.
	In the International Financial Institutions Department, which is leading DFID's work on supporting the multilateral development banks to develop a clean energy and investment framework, three posts include climate change in their portfolios. The number of posts over the last three financial years has remained static but the proportion of time spent on climate change has increased over the period.

Committees: Ministerial Attendance

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what occasions  (a) he and  (b) departmental ministers have been requested to appear before committees of (i) devolved institutions and (ii) the European Parliament since 2004; on what topic in each case; how many and what proportion of such requests were accepted; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Ministers in DFID do not regularly attend committees of the devolved institutions and European Parliament. It is not possible to provide the more detailed information requested without incurring disproportionate cost

Commonwealth Education Fund

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much Government funding the Commonwealth Education Fund received in each year since its foundation.

Gareth Thomas: The UK Government committed £23.4 million to the Commonwealth Education Fund, when it was launched in 2002. This funding supports three components: the Strategic Fund; Comic Relief Fund and Schools Linking Programme.
	The Schools Linking Programme has received an allocation of £2 million covering the period between 2002-03 to 2005-06.
	The following table shows yearly expenditure on the Strategic and Comic Relief Funds.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Strategic Fund  Comic Relief Fund 
			 2002 1,084 — 
			 2003 1,833 1,666 
			 2004 1,555 1,845 
			 2005 2,429 1,731 
			 2006 3,053 1,495 
			 2007-2008 allocated 2,646 2,062 
			 Total 12,000 8,799

Engagements

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what dates Ministers in his Department made official visits to the London boroughs of  (a) Tower Hamlets,  (b) Newham and  (c) Waltham Forest in each year since 1997.

Hilary Benn: I visited Tower Hamlets (Professional Development Centre) on 7 March 2005. Before this date the information would be available only at a disproportionate cost.

Globeleq

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the divestment of Kelvin Power by Globeleq on  (a) electricity tariff rates and  (b) access to electricity by deprived populations in South Africa;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Globeleq acquisitions since June 2002 on the  (a) electricity tariffs charged to consumers in the relevant countries and  (b) supply of electricity to deprived populations.

Gareth Thomas: Globeleq is a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC which is in turn wholly owned by DFID. It is managed independently by its own board of directors. It takes its own day-to-day commercial decisions without intervention or interference by DFID, but working within a policy framework that we have set for them. DFID would not normally make assessments such as those in question. That remains the responsibility of CDC.
	Globeleq mainly operates power generation facilities and sells power on a wholesale basis to the local distribution agency. Consumer tariffs, which cover the cost of transmitting and distributing power as well as of generation, are set by the distributing agency or independent regulators. Globeleq has no direct influence on their levels. For most of Globeleq's power generation facilities, the price it receives for its power is determined by a power purchase agreement or PPA, most of which were negotiated before Globeleq bought the assets.
	Although consumer tariffs may have risen since Globeleq bought generation facilities, or after it disposed of them, as in the case of Kelvin Power, there is no causal link between Globeleq ownership and consumer tariffs.
	By improving the reliability of power supply, Globeleq makes a positive contribution to the provision of power. Most of Globeleq's power generation businesses meet or exceed their contractual requirements for generation. Globeleq mainly operates power generation facilities rather than distribution networks and has no control over the number of connections. That remains the responsibility of the distribution agency.
	Globeleq is involved in distribution in Uganda through its ownership of Umeme which holds a concession to operate the distribution network in Uganda. Umeme has exceeded the concession requirements for increasing customer connections.

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans his Department had in place prior to the invasion of Iraq for the reconstruction and development of the country.

Hilary Benn: Prior to the coalition's invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the UK Government consulted and worked with UN agencies, the US Government, and others in making preparations to deal with a number of priorities including: the possibility of large-scale urban fighting with substantial civilian casualties; the possible use or inadvertent release of chemical or biological weapon materials; disruption to the Oil For Food programme due to instability following conflict or a longer-term collapse of oil production; serious damage to transport links and other essential infrastructure such as water and sewage pumps; disruption to the functioning of hospitals; large-scale movement of people within Iraq and into neighbouring countries; and internal ethnic and political conflict.
	In March 2003, to help international preparedness, DFID allocated £32 million to the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, and £13 million to United Nations agencies (World Food Programme, UNICEF, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Health Organisation, Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of the UN Security Coordinator). This funding contributed to the costs of pre-positioning food, medical and nutrition supplies, shelter kits and other relief supplies; establishing logistical support systems; and deploying staff in readiness for the crisis. As a result, United Nations agencies were able to return to Iraq very quickly in order to begin implementation of substantial humanitarian and recovery operations.
	Decades of under-investment and mismanagement by Saddam's brutal regime have left the Iraqis with a huge challenge. The new Iraqi Government is firmly in the lead in the reconstruction effort and has the resources to fund much of the improvements and public services itself. It also has massive international support. The UK is one of the first major donors to Iraq to fully disburse its Madrid pledge of £544 million since 2003. This contribution is helping build the capacity of the Iraqi Government, at provincial and national levels, plan to deliver investment in basic services, improve oil production levels, generate jobs and manage its own significant resources more effectively.

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what funding has been committed to Iraq for reconstruction and development in each year since the invasion; and what proportion of this funding has been committed  (a) bilaterally and  (b) multilaterally, broken down by organisation;
	(2)  what proportion of the funding committed to Iraq for reconstruction and development in each year since the invasion has been given as a budgetary support.

Hilary Benn: Iraq currently requires help from the UK and others to stem violence and build a stable society and economy. In 2003, the UK pledged £544 million for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Iraq. The UK has now fully disbursed this pledge and committed a further £100 million to be spent on reconstruction and development in Iraq over the next three years. We have not given any budgetary support to Iraq.
	The following table shows the total UK spending to Iraq since 2002-03:
	
		
			  Figures in £000 
			  Iraq( 3) ( 1) Development assistance  Humanitarian assistance  Total DFID bilateral programme ( 2) Aid from other UK official sources  Total bilateral gross public expenditure 
			 2002-03 0 18,853 18,853 0 18,853 
			 2003-04 99,261 110,052 209,313 5,000 214,313 
			 2004-05 27,724 21,383 49,107 342,400 391,507 
			 2005-06 82,105 4,764 86,869 339,380 426,249 
			  Source:  Statistics on International Development 2001-02 to 2005-06 
		
	
	We have made the following contributions to multilateral and international organisations:
	
		
			  £ Sterling 
			  Multilateral organisation  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 World Food Programme 2,000,000 31,000,000 — — 
			 UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 2,000,000 13,835,187 — — 
			 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 1,750,000 500,000 — — 
			 World Health Organisation (WHO) 1,000,000 5,000,000 — — 
			 UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) 150,000 750,000 — — 
			 Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) — 1,500,000 — — 
			 UN Development Programme (UNDP) — 16,219,980 — — 
			 UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) — 4,000,000 — — 
			 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) — 400,000 — — 
			 UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) — 500,000 — — 
			 Office of UN Security (UNSECOORD) — 3,600,000 — — 
			 UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) — 358,573 — 358,573 
			 International Monetary Fund (IMF) — 525,000 262,500 — 
			 UN International Trust Fund — 30,000,000 — — 
			 World Bank International Trust Fund — 40,000,000 — — 
			 International Red Cross 500,000 17,500,000 10,000,000 4,000,000 
			 Total 7,400,000 165,688,740 10,262,500 4,358,573 
			 (1) Includes Financial Aid, Technical Cooperation, Grants and Aid in Kind, and total DFID Debt Relief. (2) Includes non-DFID Debt Relief, British Council, and the Global Conflict Pool. (3) Recorded flows to Iraq before 2003-04 are humanitarian assistance provided through UN agencies and Civil Society Organisations for Iraqi citizens. No aid was provided to the Government of Iraq during that period.

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of microfinance projects in Iraq;
	(2)  what funding his Department has committed to microfinance in Iraq in each year since the invasion.

Hilary Benn: The UK's provincial reconstruction team in Basra has recently assessed microfinance initiatives in southern Iraq. It concluded that, with improved security, these initiatives can improve livelihoods, particularly in fertile agricultural areas, and urban areas where there is a market for goods and services, by extending credit to small businesses.
	However, in the long term a more sustainable solution is to unlock Iraq's significant financial resources for the benefit of local businesses. While DFID is not funding any microfinance initiatives in Iraq, we are advising provincial and central government officials on ways of extending credit to small and medium enterprises. This work is taking place in coordination with USAID which is funding two microfinance institutions operating across Iraq; together these two organisations have made $78 million worth of loans to over 40,000 clients.
	Through the UK provincial reconstruction team in Basra, we are running a series of workshops to equip local businessmen in Basra, Dhi Qar, Maysan and Muthanna with the skills they need to succeed. Training sessions to date have included management training, advice on how to set up a business, and information about marketing.

Iraq

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance the UK Government are giving to the Governments of Syria and Jordan in supporting displaced refugees from Iraq.

Hilary Benn: We are very concerned at the increasing numbers of people displaced due to sectarian violence in Iraq.
	We have recently announced a £4 million contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide emergency assistance, including water, medical supplies and rehabilitation of health infrastructure to vulnerable people, including internally displaced people (IDPs) inside Iraq. We are also considering UNHCR's appeal, which includes help to refugees in neighbouring countries. This brings our total humanitarian contribution for Iraq to over £120 million since 2003. Additionally, DFID provided £70 million to the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI), which provides support to internally displaced persons. We are not directly assisting the Governments of Syria and Jordan at present.
	Above all the first priority of the Iraqi Government must be to end the violence that is causing this situation, with the support of the international community and the region.

Zimbabwe

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the percentage of the population in Zimbabwe who live below the poverty line.

Hilary Benn: It is estimated that 56 per cent. of the population live on less than US $1 a day while 80 per cent. live on less that US $2 a day (Poverty Assessment Study Survey 2006).

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect of the Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust service reductions on the financial position of the London borough of Brent; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: It is the responsibility of the council and the primary care trust to work in partnership to provide services that meet the needs of their local population.

Commission for Equality and Human Rights

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) names,  (b) length of service,  (c) relevant experience and  (d) organisational affiliations are of the current commissioners of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

Meg Munn: The current commissioners of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights were announced by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 5 December 2006. Their names and information about length of service, relevant experience and organisational affiliations are available on the CEHR website at:
	http://www.cehr.org.uk/content/commissioners.rhtm.
	A second round of commissioner recruitment is currently in train, looking to secure up to five further commissioners, including a Scotland commissioner.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many domestic properties there are in each council tax valuation band in each local authority ward in England.

Phil Woolas: Ward level data for England on the number of dwellings in each council tax band at 2001 can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1505882
	Data for years 2001 to 2004 using middle super output areas can be found on the Neighbourhood Statistics Service website at:
	http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/datasetList.do?JSAllowed=true&Function=&%24ph=60&CurrentPageId=60&step=1&CurrentTreeIndex=l&searchString=&datasetFamilyId-938&Next.x-14&Next.y=13
	I hope this is helpful.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the percentage real terms increase in average band D council tax in England was in each year since 1997-98.

Phil Woolas: The real terms average percentage increases in band D, two-adult council tax in England in each year since 1997-98 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			   Real term increase 
			 1997-98 4.0 
			 1998-99 4.4 
			 1999-2000 5.1 
			 2000-01 3.1 
			 2001-02 4.5 
			 2002-03 6.7 
			 2003-04 9.5 
			 2004-05 3.3 
			 2005-06 0.8 
			 2006-07 1.9 
		
	
	The figures are calculated from data reported by local authorities on BR1, BR2 and BR3 forms and have been adjusted using the all items retail prices index (RPI) as at April each year.

Domestic Violence

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities have a full-time dedicated anti-domestic violence co-ordinator.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	Domestic violence co-ordinators are employed directly by local authorities at unitary, county and district level. Data for local authorities in each of the nine Government Office regions, and for Wales, is shown in the table as follows.
	
		
			  Government office  Full-time domestic violence co-ordinators (or equivalent)  Local authority level 
			 East Midlands 6 Unitary (information received for this level only) 
			 Eastern Region 7 Unitary and County 
			 London 26 London boroughs 
			 North East 11 Unitary and District 
			 North West 44 Unitary, District and County 
			 South East 12 Unitary (information received for this level only) 
			 South West 13 Unitary and District 
			 West Midlands 20 Unitary, District and County 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 21 Unitary and District 
			 Welsh Assembly Government 22 Welsh Assembly Community Safety Partnerships

Domestic Violence

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to monitor performance against best value performance indicator 225 on domestic violence.

Phil Woolas: Best value performance indicator 225, which was introduced in 2005-06, measures the overall provision and effectiveness of local authority services to help victims of domestic violence. We are not currently monitoring local authority performance against best value performance indicator 225, although we expect that subsequent time series data will help us identify those areas that need our support. The Audit Commission is considering whether data from this performance indicator should be taken into account in the next comprehensive performance assessment round.

Electoral Process

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and local government what plans her Department has to review the electoral process for local government in England.

Phil Woolas: We are proposing certain changes to the electoral processes for local government in England in our Local Government White Paper 'Strong and Prosperous Communities', and in the Local Government and Involvement in Public Health Bill currently before Parliament. These include simplifying arrangements by devolving power to local authorities to opt for all-out elections—every four years—and single-member wards.
	In addition, the Committee on Standards in Public Life, in its 11(th) report 'Review of The Electoral Commission', makes recommendations to reform the Electoral Commission, including recommendations about the processes for setting local electoral boundaries. The Government have welcomed the Committee's report and are carefully considering its recommendations.

Equality Act Regulations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to publish the Equality Act regulations for Great Britain; and whether local authority-commissioned adoption agencies run by religious bodies will be subject to the regulations.

Phil Woolas: The Government published a consultation paper in March setting out proposals for regulations that will prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services. The Government will publish a response to consultation shortly, with the intention that the regulations should come into force next April, alongside part 2 of the Equality Act outlawing discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods and services. The hon. Member should refer to the press notices made by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Women on 29 January 2007, which have been made available in the Library.

Local Polls

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she has issued on whether local polls held by a local authority further to the Local Government Act 2003 may be held on any day of the local authority's choosing; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Department has not issued any such guidance. Decisions on how a local poll is conducted, including its timing, are matters for the council concerned.

Lyons Report

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information she has received from Sir Michael Lyons on the likely date of publication of his report.

Phil Woolas: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his pre-Budget report on 6 December that Sir Michael Lyons' final report will be published around the time of the Budget 2007.

Open Source Software

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of her Department's computer systems use open source software; what percentage of the systems planned to be installed use such software; and whether she plans to increase the use of open source software in her Department.

Angela Smith: The Department does not have statistics on the use of open source software, and to date it is very limited. The Department will continue to consider open source solutions on an overall value for money basis in accordance with the Government's policy statement. The policy (Open Source Software, Use within UK Government, Version 2.0, 28 October 2004) can be viewed at:
	www.govtalk.gov.uk

Religious Groups

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which  (a) Muslim,  (b) Hindu and  (c) Sikh organisations received funding from her Department in each of the last five years; and how much has been allocated to each such organisation for 2006-07.

Phil Woolas: The Department has a number of funding streams which enable faith-based organisations to deliver a wide range of community based projects. Some are targeted specifically at faith organisations. Some faith organisations apply for mainstream grants and are awarded money on the same basis as any other applicant.
	The key source of targeted funding for faith organisations is the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund. In 2006, 96 Muslim organisations received a total of £1,447,307; 21 Hindu organisations received £225,445 and 14 Sikh organisations received £347,222. A further breakdown is available on the Community Development Foundation website www.cdf.org.uk.
	Information on which faith organisations have received mainstream funding is not held centrally, and could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Valuation Office

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by what means the Valuation Office Agency assesses whether a domestic property has an outbuilding for the purposes of its maintenance of council tax valuation lists; and by what means it did so during the Welsh council tax revaluation.

Phil Woolas: Whether a property has an outbuilding, or any other property attribute, was initially gathered from the Valuation Office Agency's paper-based records as they were digitised. This information will continue to be collected, as circumstances allow, for new or altered properties as part of the on-going statutory responsibility to maintain current council tax valuation lists. For the Welsh council tax revaluation, property attribute data had not been digitised, and paper-based records were relied upon.

Valuation Office

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 6 December 2006,  Official Report, column 474W, on the Valuation Office Agency, how many domestic properties in the local authority area of  (a) Epping Forest district council and  (b) Brentwood borough council are classified with a dwelling house code of FC.

Phil Woolas: As at 3 January 2007 there were  (a) 359 and  (b) 574 domestic properties classified with a dwelling house code of FC in  (a) Epping Forest district council and  (b) Brentwood borough council.

Valuation Office

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 6 December 2006,  Official Report, column 475W, on the Valuation Office Agency, how many domestic dwellings in England are recorded by the Valuation Office Agency as having the property attribute of having  (a) one bathroom and  (b) more than one bathroom.

Phil Woolas: As at 3 January 2007, of the 21,849,763 dwellings in England the Valuation Office Agency has recorded  (a) 19,426,111 with one bathroom and  (b) 2,321,927 with two or more bathrooms. The records will, correctly, not show an entry under number of bathrooms in either of these headings in such cases as unmodernised properties where there is no separate bathroom or where facilities are shared amongst occupiers (e.g. certain types of bedsit)

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Costa Viyella, Worksop

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date the Costa Viyella site in Worksop was acquired by the East Midlands Development Agency; what the rationale was for its acquisition; on what date it was sold; what the rationale was for its sale; how many jobs have been created at this site since EMDA acquisition; and what has been the effect on public funds in real terms of EMDA's acquisition.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 30 January 2007
	The Costa Viyella site was acquired by the East Midlands Development Agency on 30 March 2001. The rationale for the acquisition of the site was to ensure that suitable employment land and premises were retained in the Worksop area in the light of recent job losses.
	The site was sold on 25 April 2006 to a buyer who would generate employment at the site in line with the original rationale for the site's acquisition.
	The buyer has accepted a Selective Finance for Industry in England (SFIE) grant of £205,000 which requires the creation of 58 jobs at the site, but EMDA is not yet aware of any job creation to date.
	Since the acquisition of the site by EMDA, it has spent £359,000 on site security, maintenance and advertising.

Electronic Networks

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on how to secure UK electronic networks against disruption from (i) attack and (ii) natural hazards; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The integrity of electronic communications networks and services is a matter for communications services providers.
	My Department contributes to the Cabinet Office's annual national risk assessment that considers both threats and hazards to the UK's electronic communications networks. The assessment is part of a comprehensive programme to ensure that the nation's ICT is properly safeguarded and is undertaken in conjunction with the communications services providers, Departments and agencies with the relevant expertise in these areas.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which non-departmental public bodies are sponsored by his Department; what the function is of each body; and what the budget was of each body in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Details of the remit, Government funding and gross expenditure of public bodies sponsored by DTI can be found in the Cabinet Office publication, "Public Bodies 2006", copies of which are in the Library and which is also available online at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/publications/pdf/public-bodies/publicbodies2006.pdf.

Post Boxes

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post boxes were  (a) removed and  (b) not replaced after damage or theft by the Royal Mail in each of the last 10 years; and how many of these were at sites located in Wealden constituency.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for which the Royal Mail has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member.

Post Office

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to make a statement giving details of post office closures following the consultation.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government's consultation on the Post Office network runs to 8 March 2007. Government will then consider responses with a view to making an announcement by the end of March 2007. It will then be for Post Office Ltd to develop local area implementation plans within the framework set by Government.

Post Office

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria will be used to determine which post offices should close following the current consultation.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Government are currently seeking views on proposals which set out the broad framework for maintaining a national Post Office network. A final implementation process will not be established until the Government's public consultation has ended.
	Government's proposals include the introduction of access criteria and the requirement that, in restructuring the network, Post Office Ltd takes into account local factors affecting ease of access, such as rivers, mountains, valleys and sea crossings. Following Government's decisions after national consultation, Post Office Ltd will be tasked to develop area restructuring plans which will then be put to local consultation.

Post Office

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what payment will be offered to postmasters where post offices will be closed following the review.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Discussions between Post Office Ltd and the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters on terms are on-going. Compensation to exiting sub-postmasters is broadly expected to be based on 28 months remuneration—matching the levels awarded under the urban reinvention programme.

Royal Mail

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much postal business Royal Mail has lost to the private sector since the postal industry was opened up to competition.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Postcomm has responsibility for the introduction of competition in the UK and monitors its development. Its latest figures show that in the period from April to December 2006, Downstream Access accounted for around 11 per cent. of Royal Mail's total addressed letter volumes in the licensed area. This is mail carried by alternative operators and handed over to Royal Mail for final delivery. Royal Mail still delivers this mail and collects revenue for the final delivery, and is therefore delivering 99 per cent. of licensed area addressed mail.
	Mail volumes carried from collection to final delivery (end-to-end) by alternative operators represents less than 1 per cent. of overall volumes.

Royal Mail

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether Royal Mail customers posting items second class sometimes receive a first class service.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have therefore asked Adam Crozier, Chief Executive of Royal Mail, to reply direct.

Wind Microgenerators

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support the Low Carbon Buildings programme is giving to roof-mounted wind microgenerators.

Malcolm Wicks: Under the Low Carbon Buildings programme roof-mounted wind turbines receive the following grant support:
	 Phase 1
	Domestic stream—£1,000 per kW installed up to a maximum of £5,000, subject to an overall 30 per cent. limit of the installed costs
	Small-scale community projects—50 per cent. of installed costs up to a maximum of £30,000
	Stream 2 A—40 per cent. of the installed costs up to a maximum of £100,000
	Stream 2B—40 per cent. of the installed costs up to a maximum of £1 million
	 Phase 2
	30 per cent. of the installed costs up to a maximum of £1 million
	There are also a number of organisations due to start micro-wind field trials, which are expected to provide useful data on performance in the urban environment. The Government are engaged in this work and it will feed into development of the microgeneration certification scheme, which is due to be launched in April 2007. The certification scheme has a key role to play in developing sustainable markets for microgeneration technologies, including micro wind.

SCOTLAND

Asylum Seekers

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met  (a) the Secretary of State for the Home Department and  (b) Scotland's First Minister to discuss the removal of failed asylum seekers in Scotland.

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have regular discussions with Home Office and Scottish Executive Ministers on matters that affect Scotland.

Royal Mail

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent using Royal Mail in each of the last five years.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate-General use the Scottish Executive's postal facilities for the majority of outgoing mail and reimburse them for usage. The Offices are unable to accurately split the costs by individual provider. Separately, the Offices use Royal Mail for the transportation of ministerial papers.
	The total costs for postage and the transportation of ministerial papers for the last five years was follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2001-02 10,068 
			 2002-03 12,874 
			 2003-04 34,316 
			 2004-05 22,561 
			 2005-06 18,314

DEFENCE

Bermuda Regiment

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Military Police co-operate with the Bermuda Regiment in enforcing male conscription to the regiment  (a) in Bermuda and  (b) among Bermudians resident in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Military Police has no links with the Bermuda Regiment and does not co-operate with it in enforcing conscription, either in Bermuda or the United Kingdom.

Falkland Islands

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding the UK has allocated to the clearance of anti-personnel mines in mined areas in the Falkland Islands between January 2007 and March 2009.

Adam Ingram: A jointly funded Argentine and British contract was let in November last year to conduct a survey of the Falkland Island minefields. This survey forms the main part of a joint feasibility study. The principal aims of the survey are to identify the options for anti-personnel mine clearance, what environmental impact clearance may have, and to set out the broad costs involved. Until the results of the survey are known, and the feasibility study is completed later this year, no decisions on funding allocation will be made.

Iraq

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the standard of accommodation for UK troops serving in Iraq  (a) now and  (b) in 2003.

Adam Ingram: The condition of camps and in particular the accommodation for UK troops in Iraq has been routinely monitored since the start of operations in 2003 and we have striven to make constant improvements where necessary. The exact type of accommodation will vary from base to base and would include for example fixed living accommodation and tented accommodation. To improve comfort levels for troops we seek to reduce the occupancy levels in rooms to below the occupancy rate that the accommodation was designed to hold, where space permits. However, where this is not possible we endeavour to ensure that the design occupancy levels for accommodation are not breached.
	To further improve conditions for troops, a package of operational welfare provisions is also afforded to troops. This includes fitness facilities, retail and leisure facilities, TVs, VCRs/DVD machines, playstations, radios, videos/DVDs/games, newspapers, magazines, books, internet facilities, telephone facilities and a host of other facilities.

Officer Training

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officer cadets are in training at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; what the service personnel establishment is; what the civilian establishment is; and what the annual running costs were in each of the last five years.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 25 January 2007
	There are currently 368 Royal Navy and overseas officer cadets in training at Britannia Royal Naval College. BRNC also administers a further 184 cadets who are at university, which brings the total to 552.
	There are 173 uniformed members of staff at BRNC comprising: 61 officers, 39 Senior and Junior Ratings, 45 members of the Royal Marines Band and 28 members of the Military Provost Guard Service.
	There are 316 members of civilian staff at BRNC comprising: 45 MOD civil servants and 271 contractor staff (Flagship Training Ltd. 97, Sodexho 160, Interserve 14).
	The annual running costs for BRNC for the last five years are as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year  Cost (£ million) 
			 2001-02 18.1 
			 2002-03 18.6 
			 2003-04 19.8 
			 2004-05 20.1 
			 2005-06 21.0

Recruitment

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recruitment activity is carried out by the UK armed forces in  (a) Bermuda,  (b) Gibraltar and  (c) other overseas territories; whether recruits to the UK armed forces from Bermuda are exempt from conscription to the Bermuda Regiment; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Employment in the regular UK armed forces is open to citizens of Commonwealth countries and Republic of Ireland nationals as well as British citizens; all applicants are given equal consideration and all have to meet the same basic entry standards. The armed forces do not generally actively recruit overseas with the exception of Gurkhas from Nepal. However, in recent years the Royal Navy and the Army have sent selection teams to some Commonwealth countries with the permission of the Government concerned, and only then when evidence suggests that there is sufficient interest among the local population to merit a visit. The selection teams screen out those who are not thought capable of meeting the full entry standards, to save them the cost of an abortive trip to the UK to undergo the recruitment process.
	There are no planned Royal Navy or Army recruiting visits to any British overseas territory. Royal Air Force careers staff usually visits each sovereign base area once a year. On such occasions a recruiting facility is provided for children of service personnel; a 'high street' service is not provided to local residents.
	There are no special arrangements regarding Bermudan citizens and conscription to the Bermuda Regiment. However, those wishing to apply to join the UK armed forces must produce an official letter of confirmation of non-reserve liability from the Bermuda authorities before the application can proceed.

Royal Navy

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy vessels are  (a) mothballed and  (b) in a reduced state of readiness, broken down by class of ship; and what the predicted financial saving as a result of this policy is in each year until 2012.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 22 January 2007
	"Mothballed" is not a term used by the MOD. I have interpreted it as referring to ships capable of being returned to operational service but for which there is no requirement to do so at this time. The only Royal Navy warship in this category is the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible.
	Five other surface warships of destroyer/frigate size and above are at low or very low readiness; four of these are in refit. I am withholding further details as this could enable deductions to be made that could be prejudicial to national security.
	The normal readiness cycle of every Royal Navy ship is comprised of a mixture of periods of lower readiness, typically for maintenance or refit, and periods of higher readiness. The extent to which costs are reduced during periods of lower readiness is not calculated separately and depends on a number of factors including the type of ship, the readiness state to which it is reduced, and the length of time spent at lower readiness.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to which organisations staff in his Department are seconded; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Unfit for Service

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were advised that due to a medical condition they were unfit for service in the  (a) Army,  (b) RAF and  (c) Navy in each of the last five years, broken down by medical condition.

Adam Ingram: The Defence Analytical Services Agency has recently carried out a full validation review, with the medical directorates in each service, of the data they hold on medical discharges from the UK armed forces and their causes for the 12-year period 1994-2005. The results for this period will be compiled for analysis over the coming months. The data for 2006 are not currently available for a similar validation exercise.

TRANSPORT

Cross Country Franchise

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the proposed new timetable for the cross country franchise will require the splitting up of any services.

Tom Harris: In order to offer faster journey times between Birmingham and Scotland, and to provide a more operationally robust timetable on the west coast main line, direct services which currently continue towards the southwest and Bournemouth from Scotland via Preston will terminate at Birmingham New Street. A new hourly through service will be introduced from Manchester to Bristol, removing the need for passengers to change trains, and from Manchester to Bournemouth, improving direct links between popular destinations in north-west and south-west England; an hourly direct service will operate between Scotland and south-west England via Leeds.

Leeds Traffic Area Office

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the legality of centralising licensing work to the Leeds traffic area office has been challenged by a traffic commissioner.

Stephen Ladyman: The legality of centralising work to the Leeds office was challenged by the traffic commissioner for the south-east and metropolitan traffic area. The Department's view is that the proposed arrangements are legal but require the co-operation of each of the traffic commissioners.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Maritime and Coastguard Agency takes to ensure that foreign seafarers serving on UK ships understand the working language on board their vessel.

Stephen Ladyman: The standard of English language is assessed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in one of the following ways.
	If the MCA is satisfied that the training leading to the officer's original Certificate of Competency satisfactorily assessed written and oral English language ability, no further testing is required.
	If this is not the case, then there are a number of ways evidence of English language ability may be provided:
	i. confirmation of proficiency by an MCA Marine Surveyor on board or in a MCA Marine Office; or
	ii. successfully passing the International Shipping Federation Marlin's English Language Test at an approved centre together with the Marlin's Test of Spoken English or a letter of confirmation from the company attesting to the standard of spoken English; or
	iii. satisfying the MCA that English is the applicant's mother tongue; or
	iv. holding an advanced English Language Certificate from the British Council or International Language Testing System test report showing an overall band of at least 6; or
	v. holding a test of English as a foreign language as applicable for entrance to US universities; or
	vi. holding a Berlitz Language School level 2+ certificate endorsed by the shipping company; or
	vii. passing an MCA English language test administered for the MCA by the Scottish Qualification Authority; or
	viii. company based assessment in accordance with criteria specified in Marine Guidance Note 221 (M). This can be found at:
	http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-mld-page.htm?textobjid=7E9918FC4C47FE90
	Seafarers have to demonstrate to the MCA compliance with one of the above methods of proving ability in English language before a certificate of equivalent competency is issued.

Motorcycling

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors were taken into account when deciding to ban the wearing of tinted visors by motorcyclists.

Stephen Ladyman: Motorcyclists are currently permitted to wear tinted visors provided that they are capable of transmitting at least 50 per cent. of the available light. In 2002 the Government reviewed whether to allow darker tinting during daytime only. Motorcyclists favoured this approach but road safety bodies raised concerns about the dangers which could arise if darker visors were worn in day time during poor or changing light conditions. After careful consideration, and on the grounds of road safety, it was decided to maintain the current limitation.

Motorways

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how his Department ensures value for money when work for hedge-cutting and fence maintenance on motorways is contracted out; who inspects the standard of work carried out on fence maintenance and hedge-cutting on motorways; and what measures are taken to ensure that hedge-cutting and fence maintenance on motorways is conducted to pre-set standards and budgeted costs.

Stephen Ladyman: All motorway maintenance contracts are awarded by competitive tender to contractors whose staff hold the relevant safety, quality and environmental accreditations. Most contracts include an annual lump sum which is designed to cover minor maintenance work such as hedge-cutting and fence repairs. Under some older contracts fence and hedge maintenance is procured by issuing works packages of varying sizes. The Highways Agency has specific standards for landscaping work of this type to which its agents, who manage the contract, are expected to conform. In addition, Highways Agency staff carry out periodic inspections to check the general condition of the network, where any problems with the standard of fence and hedge maintenance would be identified.

Birmingham New Street Station

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of whether the platforming arrangements at New Street station are adequate to accommodate the December 2008 timetable for  (a) peak and  (b) off-peak times.

Tom Harris: The number of cross-country passengers who have to change at Birmingham New Street station will reduce with the implementation of the December 2008 timetable, therefore it is anticipated that the flow of passengers around the station will improve with the introduction of the timetable. Network Rail has already indicated that robust and reliable plans for the operational issue of train platforming for the clock-face timetables which will operate have been made.

Public Service Vehicle Drivers

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if, in the light of the employment by the Stagecoach company in East Kent of a convicted child sex offender as a school bus driver, he will review the efficacy of the powers available to the traffic commissioners to reject applications for public service vehicle drivers.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 29 January 2007
	Existing legislation already gives powers to the traffic commissioners to refuse a passenger carrying vehicle licence to an applicant, and to suspend, revoke or increase a disqualification period of an existing licence holder.
	The Secretary of State refers decisions regarding the fitness of applicants for and holders of PCV driving licences to the traffic commissioners.
	The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, in conjunction with the traffic commissioners, assesses continually the effectiveness of the procedures governing the issue of PCV licences.
	Where convictions are declared, DVLA refers the application as a matter of routine to the traffic commissioner to make an independent and objective evaluation of risk, to inform the licensing decision.

Rail Services

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve rail services between Lancaster and Morecambe.

Tom Harris: Between Lancaster and Morecambe, Northern Rail and Transpennine Express operate a total of 23 services in each direction between the hours of 06.28 and 22.48 on a Monday to Friday. In addition, Northern Rail also operates one service, in each direction, between Leeds and Morecambe, which, for operational reasons, does not call at Lancaster.
	The Department for Transport does not have any plans to introduce additional services on this line of route beyond the current level of services that Northern Rail is contracted to deliver.

Railways: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the change in the price of train fares in the west midlands over the past three years.

Tom Harris: Figures are not available by county. Fares for regional operators are compiled by the Office of Rail Regulation and published every year in a document called National Rail Trends Yearbook. Copies of the relevant editions of National Rail Trends Yearbook (2005-06, 2004-05 and 2003-04) will be placed in the Library and are also available at the following addresses respectively:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/294.pdf
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/nrt0405-yr-rev.pdf
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/nrt0304-yr.pdf

Renewable Transport Fuel Directive

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the capacity of the UK to meet its obligations under the renewable transport fuel directive from home produced markets up to 2010; and how many hectares of land will be required to meet such obligations.

Stephen Ladyman: The renewable transport fuel obligation should ensure that 5 per cent. of UK road transport fuel sales will be made up of renewable fuel by 2010. This will represent approximately 2.5 billion litres of biofuel and it is expected that this will be supplied from a mixture of domestic and imported feedstocks. To meet a 5 per cent. fuel obligation entirely from UK sources in 2010, we estimate that between 1 to 1.5 million hectares of land would be required depending on a range of factors including crop yields, fuel extraction rates, the technologies employed and the market split between petrol and diesel. However, this does not take into account the utilisation of co-products from biofuel production, for example in animal feed, which will reduce the overall land requirement. In the longer term, advanced technologies for processing feedstocks should also help to reduce the land requirements.
	UK farmers will be able to compete in this market, and a number of major new biofuel production plants are at the planning and construction stage in various parts of the UK. We understand that several of these are anticipating making use of home-grown biofuel feedstocks. However, much will also depend on the ability of UK farmers to compete on price and quality with overseas producers.

Road Safety: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents were reported on  (a) the A2 in Bexley borough,  (b) the A20 in Bexley borough,  (c) Brampton Road, Bexleyheath,  (d) Okehampton Crescent, Welling,  (e) Bourne Road, Bexley,  (f) Gravel Hill, Bexley,  (g) Upper Wickham Lane, Welling,  (h) Knee Hill, Abbey Wood,  (i) Park View Road, Bexleyheath,  (j) Broadway, Bexleyheath,  (k) Avenue Road, Bexleyheath,  (l) Pickford Lane, Bexleyheath and  (m) Long Lane, Bexleyheath in 2005-06.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police by location: GB 2005 
			  Accident location  Number of accidents 
			  (a) The A2 in Bexley borough 39 
			  (b) The A20 in Bexley borough 12 
			  (c) Brampton Road, Bexleyheath 10 
			  (d) Okehampton Crescent, Welling 1 
			  (e) Bourne Road, Bexley 6 
			  (f) Gravel Hill, Bexley 9 
			  (g) Upper Wickham Lane, Welling 5 
			  (h) Knee Hill, Abbey Wood 2 
			  (i) Park View Road, Bexleyheath 13 
			  (j) Broadway, Bexleyheath 10 
			  (k) Avenue Road, Bexleyheath 2 
			  (l) Pickford Lane, Bexleyheath 7 
			  (m) Long Lane, Bexleyheath 4 
		
	
	Data for 2006 are not available.

Roundabouts: A50

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to remove the roundabouts on the A50 between the M1 and M6.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no plans to remove the roundabouts on the A50 between the M1 and the M6.

Seafarers: Competency Certificates

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many certificates of equivalent competency have been issued to foreign seafarers in each year since 2000.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of full certificates of equivalent competency issued to holders of certificate of competency under the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers 1978 as amended in 1995, each year since 2000 is as shown in the following table. Complete information about CECs in 2000 and 2001 under the unamended 1978 convention can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The 1995 amendments to the 1978 convention came into force in 2002.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2000 22 
			 2001 96 
			 2002 1,236 
			 2003 2,596 
			 2004 3,103 
			 2005 3,532 
			 2006 4,144

Skips

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the progress of proposals to allow reflective strips in place of lighting on skips.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has intended for some time to consult on requirements for marking and lighting builders' skips once a new British standard for use of brighter reflective markings became available. The new standard (BS 8408) was published in 2005. We will consult in due course.

Speed-reduction Zones

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the introduction of graduated speed-reduction zones on approaches to urban areas to reduce road accidents.

Stephen Ladyman: Traffic authorities already have powers to introduce local speed limits including graduated reductions in speed limits if they believe it appropriate to do so. There is no requirement for them to seek approval from the Department, therefore no representations have been received.

Traffic Area Offices

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency will honour individual commitments to staff in the traffic area offices, other than Leeds, in relation to redeployment or severance.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency will honour its commitments where it has entered into an agreement with individuals in relation to redeployment or severance.

Transport: Schools

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many schools in  (a) Coventry and  (b) the west midlands have taken part in the Travelling to School scheme.

Gillian Merron: Fifty-one Coventry schools (39 per cent.) and 1,160 west midlands schools (43 per cent.) had high-quality school travel plans in place by 31 March 2006. Nationally, there were more than 10,000 schools (40 per cent.) with high-quality school travel plans, reflecting the Travelling to School initiative.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine TB

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether his Department plans to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the reduction of the age of cattle for pre-movement tuberculosis testing to 16 weeks;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the added cost to the farmer of reducing the age of cattle for pre-movement tuberculosis testing to 16 weeks.

Ben Bradshaw: A cost benefit assessment of extending pre-movement testing for bovine TB to cattle over six weeks old moving out of one or two year tested herds has been carried out. The additional cost to farmers in England is estimated to be £2.3 million.
	The Department estimates that, once fully implemented, the policy will save about 610 new incidents a year. Total costs of the policy per year are estimated as £5.9 million, total benefits £10.5 million, giving net benefits of £4.6 million.

Bovine TB

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will assess the merits of implementing in England a policy of valuing bovine TB slaughtered cattle on a case by case basis.

Ben Bradshaw: We do not intend to revert from a table-based compensation system to one based exclusively on individual valuations.
	While DEFRA has not ruled out the possibility of changes to the current compensation system, any changes would need to be justified and fair to farmers and the taxpayer. They would also need to take account of the extensive evidence on the level of over valuation experienced under the previous system based on individual valuations.

Bull Fighting

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has made to Spain on bull fighting; and what his policy is on bull fighting.

Ben Bradshaw: We are opposed to any form of animal cruelty, including bull fighting.
	No specific representations have been made to Spain in relation to bullfighting. The UK actively works at European and international level to try to ensure that countries adopt animal welfare standards which are as high as our own.

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what consultations his Department has had with  (a) local authorities and  (b) associated bodies on the financial impact of section 68 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to ensure that local authorities are fulfilling their obligations to receive and collect stray dogs under the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and what sanctions his Department can impose on local authorities who fail to fulfil their obligations.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA officials have held a number of discussions with the Local Government Association, local authorities and other interested organisations about the financial impact of section 68 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act. When commenced, section 68 will transfer responsibility for stray dogs from the police solely to local authorities.
	Discussions on the transfer of funding from the police to local authorities to reflect the change in responsibility are ongoing, and a date has not yet been set for the commencement of the change. A circular clarifying responsibilities for stray dogs is due to be sent to all local authorities and police forces in the coming week.
	Local councils are legally responsible for taking in stray dogs under the Environmental Protection Act. Any dogs seized by their officers or brought in by members of the public must be kept for a minimum of seven days and be provided with suitable kennelling.
	There is no specific provision in the Environmental Protection Act for this Department to intervene if a local authority breaches its statutory duty in relation to stray dogs.

Environment Agency

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on consultants by the Environment Agency in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 17 January 2007
	Annual consultancy expenditure by the Environment Agency for the last 5 years is as follows:
	
		
			   Consultancy expenditure (£ million) 
			 2005-06 110 
			 2004-05 114 
			 2003-04 107 
			 2002-03 (1)102 
			 2001-02 (1)98 
			 (1 )Estimated figures.  
		
	
	Percentage breakdown of consultancy services:
	
		
			   Percentage breakdown 
			  Service provided  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Engineering and Environmental Cons 65.0 66.5 65.2 
			 Flood Management Consultancy 14.0 13.2 15.5 
			 Management Consultants 5.0 4.0 5.5 
			 IT Consultants 8.5 7.8 4.5 
			 Cost Consultants 3.0 3.3 4.1 
			 Environment Protection Consultants 3.0 3.6 3.7 
			 Water Resources Consultancy 1.0 1.1 1.0 
			 Fisheries and Aquaculture 0.5 0.5 0.5 
		
	
	The Environment Agency delivers a large capital programme and a significant number of services in support of its flood risk management activities. Externalisation of a large element of this competency occurred during the early 1990s when a significant element of business and staff were transferred into private sector civil engineering and environment consultancy practices.
	The previous accounting system used by the Environment Agency did not provide detailed breakdown for years 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Environment Agency

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent on leased cars for staff in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 17 January 2007
	The Environment Agency has spent the following on lease cars for staff in each of the last five years:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2005-06 12 
			 2004-05 10.1 
			 2003-04 (1)11.6 
			 2002-03 (1)11.2 
			 2001-02 (1)10.8 
			 (1) Figures are estimates based on vehicle numbers.

Illegal Meat Imports

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Transport introducing a compulsory element to air passenger safety films on board aircraft to tackle the dangers of illegal meat imports.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA holds regular discussions, on a range of issues, with the Department for Transport. Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 745/2004 lays down measures with regard to imports of products of animal origin for personal consumption. Under this regulation, international passenger transport operators are obliged to inform all EU-bound passengers of the animal health conditions for Community imports of products of animal origin.
	Airlines operating flights into the UK from non-EU countries are regularly reminded of their obligations. They have been offered the script of an announcement and a video produced by DEFRA and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs for in-flight use, to assist them in meeting this requirement. Almost 200 airlines have been contacted as part of this exercise, with the majority taking up the offer.

Illegal Meat Imports

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the volume of illegal meat imports into the UK in each of the last five years; what volume has been seized; how many successful prosecutions there have been for meat smuggling; and what further steps he plans to take to tackle illegal meat imports.

Ben Bradshaw: Because the trade referred to is illegal, data on the volume of imports do not exist. In 2006 the European Food Safety Authority published a risk assessment into the risk of foot and mouth disease being introduced into the EU, which is available on the DEFRA website. This estimated that up to 2,000 tonnes of animal products may be illegally imported by travellers into the EU each year.
	Since April 2001, seizures of illegal meat imported into the UK have been recorded and are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  As at 1 April to 31 March each year:  Seizures (kilograms) 
			 2001-02 18,955 
			 2002-03 31,301 
			 2003-04 72,734 
			 2004-05 78,664 
			 2005-06 106,135 
		
	
	HM Revenue and Customs has been responsible for anti-smuggling controls on products of animal origin into Great Britain since 11 April 2003.
	The numbers of prosecutions taken by HM Revenue and Customs for POAO illegal imports offences are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  As at April to March each year:  Number of prosecutions 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 7 
			 2005-06 2 
		
	
	All prosecutions were successful.
	Details of prosecutions for offences relating to illegal imports of meat into the UK are recorded by local authorities and are not collected centrally.
	HMRC continues to target POAO on the basis of risk and intelligence, with a view to reducing the level of illegal imports. All HMRC frontline detection staff include animal products as part of their anti-smuggling responsibilities. However, within these resources, dedicated teams (currently totalling around 100 officers) with prime responsibility for detecting illegal POAO are deployed. Anti-smuggling staff are supported by both the use of detector dogs and baggage x-ray scanning equipment.
	DEFRA assists HMRC in deploying its resources according to risk, by providing information on the animal health disease situation around the world, including the risks from new disease outbreaks. HMRC and DEFRA continue to develop and evaluate publicity campaigns aimed at raising awareness within Great Britain, at borders and overseas.
	Further details can be found in the 'Annual Review of Controls on Imports of Animal Products: April 2005-March 2006'. A copy has been deposited in the House Library.

Landfill

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the landfill capacity available for local authorities in areas covered by the Sustainable Communities Plan; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: No specific estimate has been made by this Department of landfill capacity available to local authorities in areas covered by the Sustainable Communities Plan.
	The capacity of landfill sites in England and Wales has been assessed by the Environment Agency. It concluded that there is sufficient landfill capacity to meet current waste arisings in England. Future capacity is difficult to predict. However, a number of Government policies are designed to significantly reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill.
	On 22 January this year, I announced new powers to set up joint waste authorities, which will help local authorities work together to achieve better integrated, cost-effective waste services and invest in more sustainable waste facilities. These new powers, together with more challenging waste targets, progressively lower landfill limits and the escalating landfill tax will all help the UK to move away from its reliance on landfill. These measures will also encourage more sustainable waste management through greater reduction, reuse and recycling.

Nappies

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which options are currently being considered by his Department for the continuation of the Real Nappy Programme.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 15 January 2007,  Official Report, column 771W.

Packaging

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of disposed packaging of people purchasing unpackaged food from local street markets;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to promote the sale of fruit and vegetables in loose rather than pre-packaged form;
	(3)  what the contribution to landfill is of  (a) all food packaging and  (b) packaging materials for fresh fruit and vegetables.

Ben Bradshaw: Food-related packaging makes up an estimated 18 per cent. of household waste and around 3.3 per cent. of the controlled waste which is sent to landfill(1). No estimate is currently available of the proportion of landfilled packaging waste which relates to fresh fruit and vegetable sales.
	The Waste and Resources Action Programme is currently working with all leading supermarkets through the Courtauld commitment to achieve a standstill, and then a reduction, in the amount of packaging waste. A number of retailers are considering the role that the selling of loose fruit and vegetables could make to those objectives without increasing the amount of damaged produce which is then discarded. The current situation is unsatisfactory and I urge retailers to address this issue quickly.
	In general, street market sales of fruit and vegetables are less highly packaged but no estimate is available of the savings to landfill which might result from an increased use of street markets.
	(1) Figures are based on estimates of waste composition contained in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit 2002 report, Waste Not Want Not, and information from WasteDataFlow for 2005-06.

Recycling: School Waste

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of school waste was recycled in 2005-06; and what plans he has to encourage schools to recycle more waste in 2007-08.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 January 2007
	Waste from schools is classed as household waste. 26.7 per cent. of household waste was recycled or composted in 2005-06.
	Waste Strategy 2000 set targets for the management of household and municipal waste. These included 2005, 2010 and 2015 targets for the recycling and composting of household waste (25 per cent., 30 per cent. and 33 per cent.) and for the recovery of municipal waste (40 per cent., 45 per cent. and 67 per cent). The waste strategy review consultation document, published in February 2006, proposed new targets for 2010, 2015 and 2020 for the recycling and composting of household waste (40 per cent., 45 per cent. and 50 per cent.) and municipal waste recovery (53 per cent., 67 per cent. and 75 per cent.). We intend to publish the revised waste strategy in the spring.
	The Department for Education and Skills recently held a consultation on a sustainable schools strategy and DEFRA will be working with DfES and other partners, including the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), following the consultation to help schools minimise, reuse, recycle and compost their waste. It is our intention as part of this work to issue guidance to schools to include issues around the definition of waste from schools and 'top 10 tips'.
	In addition, WRAP is currently developing a schools programme as part of its successful Recycle Now communications campaign. The aim of the programme is to change recycling behaviour at home and at school. The programme includes:
	A training programme aimed at providing local authority waste and recycling officers with the knowledge and skills to implement effective recycling schemes in schools.
	Research into resources for schools, including the development of a database of resources on the subject of waste and recycling.
	Research with secondary school teachers and senior managers to inform WRAP's secondary schools strategy.
	A primary schools programme to communicate the "3 Rs" message of reduce, reuse, and recycle and give pupils examples of how to put the "3 Rs" into practice at home and school.

Scrapie

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in the National Scrapie Plan.

Ben Bradshaw: The National Scrapie Plan Ram Genotyping Scheme has been under review during the second half of 2006, following a decision by the EU Council and Parliament to reject proposals for compulsory scrapie resistance testing in pure bred and pedigree flocks.
	The review included an examination by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee of the science underpinning the NSP, and an assessment of the benefits gained from the RGS over the last five years. SEAC concluded that the RGS approach of selective breeding for scrapie resistance remained a scientifically valid approach for eradicating classical scrapie. They concluded however that the prevalence of BSE in the UK sheep population is most likely zero, or very low if present at all, and consequently the current RGS would have little impact on public health.
	Ministers have accepted the review's key recommendation that a fully-funded RGS is therefore no longer appropriate. Instead, Departments should consult on options for the future of the RGS—either a cost-shared genotyping scheme, or closure of the scheme.
	Ministers have also agreed that the consultation should take place in the summer in the light of progress on wider work on responsibility and cost sharing which is already under way. It will also cover the NSP flock register. Officials will continue informal discussions with sheep industry stakeholders and RGS members.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Carbon Emissions

Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when her Department began to measure its carbon emissions; what the volume of those emissions was in the last period for which figures are available; when her Department started to offset those emissions; what the cost is expected to be of offsetting her Department's emissions in 2006-07; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: My Department has been monitoring and reporting on carbon emissions since 1999, the last periods figures for travel and building emissions can be found at:
	www.sd-commission.org.uk/watchdog/
	My Department started to offset emissions for air travel from April 2006, figures for the first year's operation are still being calculated, and this exercise will be extended in line with the cross-Government target for central office estate to be carbon neutral by 2012.

CORE Electoral Database

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether a privacy impact assessment was produced for the CORE electoral database project.

Bridget Prentice: A privacy impact assessment has not been produced for the CORE project, as it is not expected that CORE will impact on individuals' privacy. The CORE information system will mirror the information held on local registers and access will be subject to the same regulations as for access to the local registers.

Data Protection

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if her Department will introduce legislation to require companies to disclose fully the details of any loss of personal data about their customers as soon as possible after the loss has occurred.

Vera Baird: All data processing that takes place in the UK must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. At a European Union level, the regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services is currently under review; this review includes public consultation on proposals to require telecommunications network and service providers to notify regulators and customers of all breaches of their data security. The next stage of the review is the EU response to the consultation which is to be published in summer 2007. The Department of Trade and Industry organised a parallel consultation, involving a wide range of stakeholders, to the EU review and responded to the EU consultation on behalf of the United Kingdom on 27 October 2006. The Government will consider carefully the EU response to this consultation and this will help to inform our on-going consideration of relevant domestic legislation.

Departmental Offices

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what area of office space her Department and its agencies used in central London in  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: In 2004 the Department occupied 45,986.12 sq m of leasehold office accommodation in central London, whilst the total for Her Majesty's Court Service was 1,642.58 sq m. For 2006 the figures were 44,393.16 sq m and 4329.89 sq m respectively. From 1 April 2006 the newly created Tribunals Service became an agency of the Department with leasehold office accommodation totalling 5,226.00 sq m in central London.
	In 2004 neither the Department nor its agencies owned the freehold to any of their London properties. Since 2006 Her Majesty's Court Service has held the freehold to 2297.00 sq m of office accommodation in London as a result of the transfer of work from the magistrates courts.

Electoral Administration Act

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the provisions in the Electoral Administration Act 2006 relating to  (a) signatures being required in polling stations and  (b) regulation of loans in Northern Ireland will be implemented; and what the reasons are for the time taken to bring these provisions into force.

Bridget Prentice: Provisions relating to signatures being required in polling stations have not been commenced as the wording in the Electoral Administration Act 2006 does not provide for a clear sanction to withhold a ballot paper. Consequently, to avoid confusion, it has been decided not to commence this provision until the legislation can be amended to remove any uncertainty. With regard to the regulation of loans in Northern Ireland, these provisions have not been commenced as different arrangements exist in Northern Ireland in relation to the funding of parties. Consequently, the detail of the secondary legislation dealing with this matter will be complex and technical, and requires further development and consultation before it can be put in place.

Exeter Small Claims Mediation Scheme

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she is taking in response to the conclusion of her Department's research unit in its report on the Exeter Small Claims Mediation Scheme on  (a) appeal or complaints procedures and  (b) other mechanisms for accountability; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: These concerns were addressed when the original Exeter small claims mediation scheme was relaunched in June 2005, as one of three small claims pilots that the Department set up to test mediation in small claims—in Exeter, Reading and Manchester. Evaluations of all three pilots showed that the scheme based at Manchester county court gave the highest combination of customer satisfaction and settlement rates. As a result, the Department has put in place an implementation strategy to roll out further schemes based on the Manchester model with effect from March 2007.

Freedom of Information Requests

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 11 January 2007,  Official Report, column 688W, on freedom of information requests, what information was requested in each freedom of information request which was exempt under section 36.

Vera Baird: The DCA monitors the frequency of use of exemptions as part of its FOI monitoring regime. Information on the subject of a request when an exemption is used is not collected.

Parliamentary Boundaries

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2007,  Official Report, column 631W, on parliamentary boundaries, whether the Boundary Commission  (a) has sought and  (b) plans to seek the award of costs against those who brought the review.

Bridget Prentice: The Boundary Commission did seek and was awarded costs against the claimants in respect of the acknowledgement of service and summary grounds of opposition.

Prisoner Voting

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2007,  Official Report, column 632W, on prisoner voting, what length of time allows a remand prisoner to be regarded as a resident and therefore allowed to vote in the constituency where the prison is located.

Bridget Prentice: The term 'sufficient' is not defined in electoral law. The electoral registration officer is required to determine whether the anticipated length of time a person is detained on remand is sufficient to allow entry onto the register in the constituency where that person is held.

Scottish Members' Voting Rights

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 5 December 2006,  Official Report, column 352W, on Scottish Members' voting rights, what research her Department has undertaken on the likely effect of changing the voting rights of hon. Members for Scottish constituencies on public confidence in the parliamentary process.

Bridget Prentice: The Government believe that there is no case for altering the fundamental principle of the constitution that all MPs have equal rights and can therefore vote on any matter before them. It has therefore not undertaken any research into the public impact of such a change.

TREASURY

Anti-retroviral Drugs

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the German Government on the inclusion of funding for universal access to anti-retroviral drugs on the agenda for the G8 finance ministers meetings in 2007;
	(2)  if he will put forward plans for an international agreement on funding for anti-retroviral drugs at the G8 finance ministers meetings in 2007.

Edward Balls: The Government are fully committed to playing their part in turning the tide against AIDS. That is why we made AIDS a centrepiece of our 2005 G8 and EU Presidencies, leading to an international commitment to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010. As UNAIDS recently said, if this target is to be met, donors must deliver on the Gleneagles commitment to provide an additional $50 billion in aid by 2010.
	The Government have been working with Germany to ensure their presidency of the G8 builds on the progress made in 2005. And we strongly welcome Angela Merkel's recent announcement that addressing the impact of AIDS on women and children will be a top priority under the German presidency. We will continue to work with the German Government at all levels on this and the wider Gleneagles agenda, including aid volumes and support for mechanisms such as the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria and UNITAID, both of which provide funding for anti-retroviral drugs.

Asset Sales

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down by Department the estimate and projection for central Government asset sales in 2006-07 and 2007-08 in table B21 of his 2006 pre-Budget report.

Stephen Timms: The estimate of annual asset disposal proceeds is made at central Government level only.

Bank Services: Fees and Charges

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with representatives of the banking industry on the impact of excessive bank charges on social exclusion among low income families.

Edward Balls: Treasury Ministers and officials hold discussions with the banking industry on a wide range of issues as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the target time is for providing a substantive response to hon. Members' correspondence by the Claimant Compliance section of HM Revenue and Customs in Preston.

Dawn Primarolo: The Claimant Compliance section of HM Revenue and Customs aims to answer 80 per cent. of all correspondence, including that from MPs, within 15 days.

Correspondence

Ann Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Congleton of  (a) 27 June,  (b) 28 July,  (c) 9 August,  (d) 8 September,  (e) 5 October,  (f) 22 November and  (g) 6 December 2006, on levying VAT on charitable goods.

Dawn Primarolo: This issue is being considered and I hope to be in a position to respond shortly.

Employee Exit Survey

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1339W, on the employee exit survey, if he will place in the Library a copy of the report on open ended responses to the exit survey referred to in the exit questionnaire report.

John Healey: The responses to the open-ended comments section of the exit survey contain information which is confidential and could be used to identify specific individuals. It would be inappropriate for this information to be in the public domain.

English Language Teaching

Karen Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax revenue from  (a) the English for speakers of other languages teaching industry and  (b) fees paid by foreign students learning English.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available.

Fees and Charges Guide

Mark Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to approve the updated version of the Fees and Charges Guide.

Stephen Timms: Guidance on Government fees and charges policy will be incorporated into the updated version of Government Accounting—to be published in summer 2007.

Government Departments: Budgets

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the settlement letter sent by his Department to the Home Office agreeing its budget for the years covered by the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review following the 2006 pre-Budget report;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the settlement letter sent by his Department to the Department for Education and Skills agreeing its capital budget for the years covered by the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review following the announcement in the 2006 pre-Budget report.

Stephen Timms: Details of the Home Office settlement for the Comprehensive Spending Review are available in the 2006 Budget. Details of the Department for Education and Skills capital settlement for the CSR are available in the 2006 pre-Budget report. As is usual practice, further details of the settlements will be published in the CSR White Paper in 2007. Details of both Departments' financial plans will be available in the central Government supply estimates, which are published in February, November and May of each year. Further details of Home Office and Department for Education and Skills spending can be found in their departmental reports.

Health Care-acquired Infections

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from  (a) Clostridium difficile and (b) meticillin-resistant  Staphylococcus Aureus in each year since 1997, including neonates, broken down by Government office region.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 31 January 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people died from (a)  Clostridium difficile and (b) Meticillin Resistant  Staphylococcus Aureus in each year since 1997, including neonates, broken down by Government Office Region. (112363)
	Special analyses of deaths involving MRSA and  Clostridium difficile are undertaken annually by ONS for England and Wales. These are published in Health Statistics Quarterly. The latest year for which such figures are available is 2004. The information requested is given in the attached tables.
	Since 1986 ONS has used the internationally recommended death certificate for neonatal deaths. This means that these deaths cannot be assigned an underlying cause of death.(1) Neonatal deaths have been included in the 'mentioned' causes.
	(1 )Office for National Statistics (2005) Mortality Statistics: Childhood Infant and Perinatal, Series DH3 No.36, Office for National Statistics: London.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of death certificates where Clostridium difficile( 1)  was (a) mentioned and (b) recorded as the underlying cause of death( 2) , by Government office region, 1999 and 2001-2004( 3,4) 
			   1999  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			   (a)  (b)  (a)  (b)  (a)  (b)  (a)  (b)  (a)  (b) 
			 North East 54 29 65 35 78 35 102 51 125 72 
			 North West 134 67 154 87 178 86 219 105 278 138 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 60 26 87 43 115 57 115 56 155 74 
			 East Midlands 63 40 67 33 65 35 95 58 137 90 
			 West Midlands 86 42 116 68 142 69 223 115 282 149 
			 East of England 82 46 147 87 186 102 227 126 245 138 
			 London 138 80 189 115 210 139 220 134 239 145 
			 South East 164 97 173 102 210 106 307 166 336 182 
			 South West 137 72 152 91 154 80 194 101 358 199 
			 Wales 56 31 63 29 88 46 85 46 88 55 
			 (1) Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics (2005) Report: Deaths involving Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 1999-2004. Health Statistics Quarterly 30, 56-60. (2) Excludes neonatal deaths. (3) Deaths registered in 1999, deaths occurring in 2001 -2004. (4) Data for 1997-98 and 2000 are not available. The reason for this is explained in the above report and in background note 1. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of death certificates where MRSA( 1)  was (a) mentioned and (b) recorded as the underlying cause of death( 2) , by Government office region, 1997-2004 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000 
			   (a)  (b)  (a)  (b)  (a)  (b)  (a)  (b) 
			 North East 10 2 15 5 13 1 25 9 
			 North West 42 9 61 13 49 14 63 18 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 30 8 30 9 40 9 43 13 
			 East Midlands 19 8 29 11 35 7 46 12 
			 West Midlands 51 9 48 18 66 20 82 28 
			 East of England 49 13 35 10 49 9 68 24 
			 London 55 19 47 11 58 15 86 24 
			 South East 62 16 64 21 74 18 134 35 
			 South West 37 12 43 11 47 17 69 21 
			 Wales 34 6 39 9 55 16 51 11 
		
	
	
		
			   2001  2002  2003  2004 
			   (a)  (b)  (a)  (b)  (a)  (b)  (a)  (b) 
			 North East 28 7 38 9 49 15 68 20 
			 North West 53 17 75 30 113 43 127 28 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 65 24 75 27 82 30 115 34 
			 East Midlands 66 23 50 13 74 23 90 21 
			 West Midlands 80 27 82 27 93 29 115 39 
			 East of England 81 26 84 24 100 31 128 48 
			 London 90 30 103 27 104 42 135 39 
			 South East 140 53 143 39 167 55 178 62 
			 South West 78 33 92 34 108 31 136 43 
			 Wales 53 14 58 18 64 21 75 26 
			 (1) Identified using the methodology described in Giffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004). Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993-2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15-22. (2) Excludes neonatal deaths.

HMRC

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what payments have been made by HM Revenue and Customs for opinion polling in the last three years; which company received each payment; on what date; and what the purpose was of the polling concerned in each case.

Dawn Primarolo: None.

HMRC

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs has recently changed its policy of providing home visits to taxpayers under its Targeted Education, Enabling and Leverage scheme.

Dawn Primarolo: There has been no recent change to HMRC's policy on home visits.

HMRC

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what savings have been identified as a direct result of the HM Revenue and Customs scheme Angels and Demons; and how much has been spent on the scheme.

Dawn Primarolo: In October 2006, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs introduced a new scheme designed to encourage staff to submit proposals for working more efficiently and effectively, to enable the best proposals to be rolled out quickly across the Department, and in the process to develop the capabilities and initiative of the staff involved.
	The scheme is expected to deliver a 110 per cent. return over two years, in terms of both efficiency savings and greater operational effectiveness. To date, approximately £850,000 has been invested in the implementation of proposals and projects arising from the scheme, which it is expected would deliver a return of approximately £935,000 over the next two years.

HMRC

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what methodology will be used in producing the local economic impact assessments in relation to decision-making on the reorganisation of HM Revenue and Customs.

Dawn Primarolo: During its review programme HMRC will be undertaking a process of information gathering from internal and external sources and consultation with staff and external stakeholders.
	This information will be used to assess the impact of potential closure of an office on the local community, customers, staff and business delivery. Each location will be considered on its individual factors before a decision is made.

HMRC

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the changes in carbon dioxide emissions resulting from options for the reorganisation of HM Revenue and Customs offices.

Dawn Primarolo: By reducing the number of offices it occupies, and using its remaining office space more efficiently, HMRC will reduce the carbon footprint of its accommodation.
	HMRC is promoting sustainable travel policies and the use of telephone conferencing and video conferencing as travel alternatives.

Inheritance Tax

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  under what circumstances a self-catering holiday cottage may benefit from business relief for inheritance tax purposes;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the application of business relief for inheritance tax purposes in respect of self-catering holiday cottages.

Dawn Primarolo: Inheritance tax business property relief has long been targeted on trading businesses by excluding those of an investment nature. Whether any particular business qualifies for relief will depend on all the facts of the particular case.
	The Government have received a small number of representations about business property relief and holiday letting businesses.

Irish People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of the population in each constituency of the UK are first generation Irish people, broken down by region and listed in descending order of percentage.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 31 January 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question how many and what percentage of the population in each constituency of the UK are first generation Irish people, broken down by region and listed in descending order of percentage. (112095)
	As there is no standard ONS definition of "first generation Irish" we have prepared figures for those people whose Country of Birth was Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland or Ireland part not stated but whose usual residence was in England, Wales or Scotland. The figures have been broken down by Government Office Region.
	The figures have been extracted from Country of Birth Table KS05 on the CD Supplement to the Key Statistics for Parliamentary Constituencies, which is available in the House of Commons Library. For convenience the resulting extract has also been lodged in the House of Commons Library.

Online Tax Credit Service

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how long the online tax credit service was closed by fraudsters in December 2005; and what steps he has taken to restore the online service since that date.

Dawn Primarolo: A decision was taken to suspend the internet service from 2 December 2005. HMRC is developing a series of strengthening measures for the service and will consider whether to reopen it when this work provides the necessary assurance.

Self-employed Taxpayers

David Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Bexleyheath and Crayford were registered as self-employed in each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number of people registered as self-employed at individual constituency level is not available from HM Revenue and Customs' records. However, the number of self-employed taxpayers in Bexleyheath and Crayford can be found in table 3.15 'Income and Tax by Parliamentary Constituency, 2003-04':
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3_15a_apr06.pdf.
	This table is only available for 2003-04 and will be updated by the end of January with data from the Survey of Personal Incomes, 2004-05.

Self-employed Taxpayers

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of self-employed taxpayers' tax returns for 2005-06 in  (a) the South East and  (b) the UK are planned to be investigated.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC adopts a risk-based approach to the interventions it undertakes.
	Detailed plans for intervention work in 2007-08, based on self-employed taxpayers' tax returns for 2005-06, will depend upon outcome of the risk assessments of these returns.

Self-employed Taxpayers

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many self-employed taxpayers there are in the south-east.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number of taxpayers with self-employment income in 2003-04 based on the Survey of Personal Incomes can be found in table 3.13 'Income and tax by county and region' on HM Revenue and Customs' website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/3_13_apr06.pdf.
	This table will be updated by the end of January with data from the Survey of Personal Incomes, 2004-05.

Sports Sponsorship: Tax Liability

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the tax liability is of overseas sportsmen and sportswomen while in the UK on their endorsement and sponsorship income.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 30 January 2007
	If a non-resident visiting performer carries out a relevant activity in the UK, they are liable to UK income tax on all directly or indirectly connected payments, including endorsement and sponsorship income.

Tax: Electronic Submissions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what cost savings have accrued to HM Revenue and Customs from the introduction of electronic filing of PAYE end of year submissions; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The cost savings accrued to HMRC from the introduction of online filing of employers' annual returns were £6.415m in 2005-06. These were primarily staff savings of £6.325m, but also included non-staff savings of £0.09m due to reduced printing and postage.
	The cumulative cost savings are expected to increase every year up to 2008-09 and will then be maintained beyond that year.

Tax: Electronic Submissions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the figure of £42 million for incentive payments for electronic filing set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment of 24 September 2003 was calculated.

Dawn Primarolo: Details of how the £420 million payment for incentives published in the Regulatory Impact Assessment on 24 September 2003 was calculated are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Cost of incentive (£)  Estimated take up profile (Percentage)  Estimated costs  (£ million) 
			 2004-05 250 10 40 
			 2005-06 250 30 110 
			 2006-07 150 50 110 
			 2007-08 100 60 85 
			 2008-09 75 70 75 
		
	
	HMRC based the estimates on the information we had at that time, and that as better information was obtained the estimates were revised upwards and reported to Parliament.

Tax: Electronic Submissions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultations with the payroll software industry were undertaken by members of HM Revenue and Customs when developing the policy of mandating and incentivising employers to file electronically pay-as-you-earn information; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs (then Inland Revenue) undertook extensive consultation with representatives from the payroll software industry during development of employer annual return online filing policy. This included:
	regular consultative group meetings
	policy specialists' attendance at the 'Inland Revenue Electronic Exchange Network', an external forum at which developer requirements were discussed
	policy specialists' attendance at numerous software developer events between 2002 and 2004
	one-to-one consultations with specific software providers.

Tax: Electronic Submissions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken by HM Revenue and Customs management to improve the process for estimating expenditure of incentive payments for electronic filing of PAYE information; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC acknowledges that the original estimates on Budget day 2002 did not correctly anticipate the high take-up of online filing. Figures were based on the limited information available at that time. The Department is confident that now more data about filing behaviour-particularly take-up trends—is available, it will be able to more accurately estimate payments of the online filing incentive.
	Estimates for forecasting incentive payments are based a combination of the following:
	Number of employers claiming the incentive
	Size of the employer base
	Trends of take-up rates of incentive claims.

Tax: Electronic Submissions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reason is for the delay in posting electronically submitted pay as you earn end of year submissions to individuals' PAYE and national insurance accounts for the year ended 5 April 2005; and whether deficiency notices have been sent to individuals as a consequence of the delay.

Dawn Primarolo: Difficulties in bedding down the new technology introduced by HMRC in April 2005 to support employers electronically submitting their annual returns for 2004-05 meant 120,000 (13 per cent.) online returns were accepted with errors that would normally have been rejected. These returns need manual work by HMRC staff before they can be correctly processed, and this has continued to delay some data getting to the national insurance recording system.
	HMRC endeavoured to get all the 2004-05 data posted through to NIRS prior to the commencement of the deficiency notice exercise on 11 September 2006, but we did not succeed: 4.7 million deficiency notices were issued to customers and although the vast majority of these letters were correct, some contained incorrect information due to the late processing of returns.
	When an individual's 2004-05 national insurance contributions are recorded on their NI account, dependent on the earnings and NI recorded, HMRC will send a letter explaining that 2004-05 is now a qualifying year for benefit purposes.

Tax Credits

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of overpayments of tax credits reclaimed by the Government in each of the last three years.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 31 January 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to HMRC's trust statement and the Comptroller and Auditor General's standard report on HMRC's accounts for 2005-06.

Tax Credits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Hemsworth constituency receive  (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimated numbers of families benefiting from tax credits by constituency are only available for in-work families. The average number in 2004-05 of such families with positive awards in each constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes, are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2004-05 Geographical Analysis". This publication is available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
	Information for 2005-06 awards is due to be published in May 2007.

Tax Offices

John Pugh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria will be used to decide whether local tax offices stay open or close.

Dawn Primarolo: During its review programme HMRC will be undertaking a process of information gathering and consultation so that it can make fully informed decisions on its future office network structure.
	No final decisions have been taken, and none will be made before an assessment of the impact of closing any office is complete.
	These impact assessments examine in detail the socio-economic impacts of closure, impacts on customers, staff and business delivery and also take into account any specific factors affecting each local office.

VAT

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1747W, on VAT, how many companies have had applications for VAT refunds rejected as a result of the change in law on 3 December 2004 regarding VAT on the supply of services to non-EU customers; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 23 January 2007
	The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

VAT

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to offer compensation to traders of the mobile phone and computer-chip industries who suffer financial hardship due to their VAT repayments claims being under extended review.

Dawn Primarolo: Under Section 79 of the VAT Act 1994 HM Revenue and Customs are required subject to certain conditions, to compensate any business for failing to repay a legitimate repayment claim within 30 days of receipt of the VAT return.
	However, when calculating the time taken to authorise the claim, sections 79(3) and (4) of the VAT Act provides for HM Revenue and Customs to deduct the time taken to make reasonable enquiries to verify the legitimacy and accuracy of the claim and to correct any errors or omissions on the return.
	As the hon. Member has specifically referred to the mobile phone and computer-chip industries, I would also refer him to my response of 24 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 1859-60W.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Arts Funding

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public money allocated to the  (a) West Belfast Festival and  (b) Gasyard Feile in Londonderry in each of the last two years, broken down by Department.

Maria Eagle: Details of the public moneys allocated to the  (a) West Belfast Festival and  (b) Gasyard Feile in Londonderry, in each of the last two years is given in the following tables:
	
		
			  (a) West Belfast Festival 
			  £ 
			  Funding source  2005-06  2006-07 
			 DCAL - Arts Council of Northern Ireland 90,000 (ASOP) 99,000 (ASOP) 
			  25,000 (Lottery) 35,000 (Lottery access) 
			  9,250 (Lottery arts project)  
			 DCAL - Community Festivals Fund — 45,000 
			 DCAL - Foras na Gaeilge 12,000 15,000 
			 DCAL (direct funding) 20,000 100,000 
			 NIO Probation Board NI 5,220 — 
			 DSD - Belfast Regeneration Office 121,548 — 
			 OFMDFM - Community Relations Council 8,000 5,700 
			 DFP PEACE II — 58,420 
			 Total 291,018 358,120 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Gasyard Feile 
			  £ 
			  Funding source  2005-06  2006-07 
			 DCAL - Arts Council of Northern Ireland — 42,350 (Lottery access) 
			   9,416 (Lottery arts Project) 
			 DCAL - Community Festivals Fund — 8,000 
			 OFMDFM - Community Relations Council — 1,900 
			 Total — 61,666

Bus Services: Comber

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how old the Translink vehicles operating the number 11 service to Comber are.

David Cairns: The current average age of buses operating on the number 11 service to Comber is 9.9 years. This compares with an overall average Ulsterbus fleet age of 10.9 years.

Committees: Ministerial Attendance

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what occasions  (a) he and  (b) departmental Ministers have been requested to appear before Committees of (i) devolved institutions and (ii) the European Parliament since 2004; on what topic in each case; how many and what proportion of such requests were accepted; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: Neither I, as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, nor my Ministers have been requested to appear before any Committees of the devolved institutions or the European Parliament since 2004.

Departmental Fixed Assets

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which fixed assets his Department sold for more than £10,000 in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06; and what the (i) sale value, (ii) purchaser and (iii) date of sale was of each asset.

Peter Hain: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			   Asset type  Sale value (i) 
			 2004-05 14 houses 1,874,500 
			 2005-06 13 houses 3,052,500 
			 2005-06 Land 56,000 
		
	
	The sale of NIO houses and this land sale were handled by commercial estate agents and the sales were to private individuals. Details of NIO houses, including their sales, are not published by the Department, for security reasons.

Departmental Hospitality

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's expenditure was on hospitality and entertainment in  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) 2005-06.

Peter Hain: The amount spent on hospitality and entertainment in 1996-97 and 2005-06 was as follows:
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 1996-97 269,613 
			 2005-06 299,634 
		
	
	Expenditure incurred on hospitality by the Northern Ireland Office includes accommodation and hospitality for members of the royal family, visiting dignitaries and Heads of State, and also hospitality for the representatives of business, voluntary and community sectors in Northern Ireland attending the annual garden party at Hillsborough Castle.

Housing Executive Houses

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Housing Executive houses in Northern Ireland are unoccupied; and how many of those houses are located in  (a) West Belfast,  (b) South Belfast,  (c) North Belfast and  (d) East Belfast.

David Hanson: There are currently 3,779 Housing Executive properties unoccupied and of those the distribution for Belfast showing the reason for not being occupied are as follows:
	
		
			  Belfast 
			   Awaiting imminent relet  Difficult to let  Undergoing major repairs imp's/decanting  Pending sale or demolition  Total 
			  (a) West  
			 (district 1) 1 8 37 0 46 
			 (district 3) 0 0 16 2 18 
			 (district 5) 0 24 81 32 137 
			 Total 1 32 134 34 201 
			   
			  (b) South  
			 (district 7) 1 1 49 2 53 
			   
			  (c) North  
			 (district 4) 2 88 122 135 347 
			 (district 6) 12 49 33 128 222 
			 Total 14 137 155 263 569 
			   
			  (d) East  
			 (district 2) 0 0 65 36 101 
		
	
	The districts in brackets relate to the Housing Executive Offices that cover each of the four areas of Belfast referred to in the question.

Medical Academics

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the ratio is of medically qualified academics to medical students in Queen's University Belfast Medical School.

Paul Goggins: The ratio of clinical joint appointments to medical students at Queen's University Belfast is 1:17.

Medical Academics

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many medical academics taught medical students in the Province in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: At the end of the last academic year, 31 July 2006, there were 65 clinical joint appointments providing teaching to medical students.

Mental Health

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many adolescents were in-patients in adult mental health wards in each health board area in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The number of adolescents who were admitted to adult mental health wards in each health board in each of the last five years is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  HSS Board 
			   EHSSB  NHSSB  SHSSB  WHSSB  NI total 
			 2002 31 26 24 37 118 
			 2003 25 18 19 38 100 
			 2004 31 20 19 38 108 
			 2005 19 15 14 26 74 
			 2006 16 9 8 31 64 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are based on calendar years. 2. Adolescents have been classed as those aged 14 to 17 inclusive.  Source: HSS Boards

Mental Health

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many adolescent mental health beds are available in each health board area.

Paul Goggins: Mental health in-patient services for adolescents are provided in only one trust in Northern Ireland, that being South and East Belfast HSS trust.
	There are insufficient beds at present to meet demand. Only five beds are currently open in the interim inpatient unit at Knockbracken (South and East Belfast HSS trust) due to staffing difficulties, although the unit has capacity for eight beds with the potential to eventually move to 12 beds. The situation is kept under active review with the aim of increasing the number of beds as soon as possible.
	There are plans to build a new 18-bed mental health adolescent in-patient unit to replace the existing inpatient facilities at Knockbracken. This is due to be completed in 2008-09. This unit will help alleviate the current problem of insufficient provision of in-patient beds for this service.
	 Source:
	South and East Belfast HSST and Mental Health Unit (DHSSPS)

Mental Illness: Employment

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he is taking to promote the employment within  (a) his Department and  (b) public sector bodies for whom he has responsibility of people with mental illnesses in line with the advice and codes of practice produced by the Disability Rights Commission.

Peter Hain: In Northern Ireland, Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 already requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity towards people with a disability. These duties ensure that equality issues, including disability, are integral to the whole range of public policy decision making. Public authorities such as the Northern Ireland Office are required to submit equality schemes to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and to carry out impact assessments of their policies in certain circumstances.
	The Northern Ireland Office is fully committed to the fulfilment of the section 75 obligations on the promotion of equality of opportunity towards people with a disability.
	To carry out the disability duties the Northern Ireland Office will:
	adopt a positive attitude towards disabled people and their needs;
	be open to the possibility of doing things differently;
	promote a positive attitude on disability within the workplace—ensure methods used to deliver our policies/services are disability friendly;
	provide further information on mainstreaming the new disability duties into decisions and activities early in 2007; and
	prepare a disability action plan to show how the N1O proposes to fulfil the disability duties in relation to its functions.

Mid-Ulster Hospital

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many beds are expected to be available at the new-build at Mid-Ulster hospital; and whether a consultation exercise will be undertaken  (a) before and  (b) after the building has been designed.

Paul Goggins: The Step I outline business case for the Northern Health and Social Services Board acute and local hospitals proposed that the total number of beds in the redeveloped Mid-Ulster hospital would be 45, made up of 29 in-patient beds and 16 day case beds.
	As part of the exemplar design process and the subsequent post project evaluation process, formal consultation will be provided for with all key stakeholders.

Mr. Keith Moffat

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what period Mr. Keith Moffatt was chief executive of Translink; and on which occasions he met Mr. Moffatt during his time as chief executive.

David Cairns: Mr. Moffatt was employed as the chief executive of Translink from 1 October 2003 to 31 December 2006. During that period he met with DRD Ministers on 11 occasions.

Neonatal Care

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many neonatal cots there are in each hospital in the Province; and how many are in  (a) intensive care,  (b) high dependency and  (c) special care units;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the current provision of specialist neonatal services in the Province;
	(3)  whether he plans to increase the number of neonatal cots in hospitals in the Province;
	(4)  what plans there are to enhance specialist neonatal services in the Province;
	(5)  what assessment he has made of the findings of recent work commissioned by his Department on the current level of specialist neonatal provision in the Province.

Paul Goggins: There are currently 104 neonatal cots in Northern Ireland: 20 intensive care, 21 high dependency and 63 special care. Their distribution is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Level of care  RJMS  Antrim  Altnagelvin  CAH  Ulster  DHH  Erne  Total for NI 
			 IC 9 4 3 3 1 0 0 20 
			 HD 7 2 6 4 2 0 0 21 
			 SC 15 10 9 8 9 6 6 63 
			 Total 31 16 18 15 12 6 6 104 
			  Notes: RJMS: Royal Jubilee Maternity Service; CAH: Craigavon Area Hospital; DHH: Daisy Hill Hospital. 
		
	
	Typically this highly specialised service is required for premature and very ill newborn babies. Demands on the service have increased in recent years; a trend also evident in other parts of the UK.
	A working group, commissioned in 2005 by the Chief Medical Officer, has assessed the current provision of services across Northern Ireland. The report included a number of recommendations to sustain and strengthen services. With regard to the capacity of current services, the report indicated that an additional two neonatal cots would help meet the service demands more effectively. Other recommendations included the development of a neonatal intensive care network, improved information systems on neonatal cot usage and availability, and measures to increase the complement of appropriately trained neonatal nurses.
	An additional £800,000 will be allocated for neonatal/paediatric intensive care services in 2007-08. This will allow the introduction of at least one additional neonatal intensive care cot, one additional paediatric intensive care bed and other improvements in a number of associated areas, including the establishment of a managed clinical network.
	These measures to increase capacity within neonatology will also be supported by the development of a neonatal and paediatric critical care transport service. A lead consultant for the service has already been appointed and other staff are currently being recruited.

Neonatal Care

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many consultant nurses in the neonatology specialty there are in the Province; and what plans there are to increase the number of consultant nurses in neonatology in the Province.

Paul Goggins: Health and social services trusts have confirmed that there are no consultant nurses in the neonatology specialty.
	Staffing is a matter for individual trusts, taking into account factors such as service needs and available resources. Information is not held centrally on projected appointments to specific grades.

Neonatal Care

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many babies were transferred outside the Province  (a) for services that are not provided in Northern Ireland and  (b) on account of all available neonatal cots being occupied in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  (a) Number of babies that have been transferred outside Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for services that are not provided in Northern Ireland 
			  Trust  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  Total 
			 Altnagelvin Group 1 — — — — 1 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group — — — 1 — 1 
			 Newry and Mourne — — — 1 — 1 
			 Sperrin Lakeland — — — — — — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals 1 2 4 2 1 10 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals — — — — — — 
			 United Hospitals — — — 2 — 2 
			  Source: Health and social service trusts 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Number of babies that have been transferred outside Northern Ireland in each of the last five years on account of all available neonatal cots being occupied 
			  Trust  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  Total 
			 Altnagelvin Group — — — 1 — 1 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group — — — — — — 
			 Newry and Mourne — — — — 1 1 
			 Sperrin Lakeland — — — — 2 2 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals(1) — — — — — — 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals — — — — — — 
			 United Hospitals — — — — — — 
			 (1 )Royal Group of Hospitals Trust stated that they had not transferred any babies out of Northern Ireland in the last five years as a result of neonatal cots being full to capacity. However, they stated that they have transferred mothers in late pregnancy outside of Northern Ireland because all neonatal cots were being used.  Source: Health and social service trusts.

Neonatal Care

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his estimate is of the costs incurred as a result of transferring babies outside the Province for neonatal care in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The average transport costs associated with transferring a baby outside Northern Ireland for treatment are in the region of £5,000 to £8,000 per transport. This is with the exception of ECMO cases (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation), which is a service not provided in Northern Ireland. Babies requiring this treatment are collected by a specially equipped and staffed helicopter at a cost of approximately £20,000.
	Due to the method by which reimbursement between NHS trusts has been carried out until recently it is not possible to disaggregate the treatment costs associated with transferred babies without incurring disproportionate costs in obtaining the information. The cost of treatment elsewhere in the United Kingdom, however, is comparable with provision of the same treatment locally. The additional expense lies in travel for the patient and relatives, as appropriate.

Parkinson's Disease

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements are in place for people with Parkinson's disease in the Western Health and Social Services Board area to see consultants; how many consultants trained to address the needs of people with Parkinson's disease are employed in the Western Board area; and how long, on average, patients with Parkinson's disease in the Western Board area have to wait before seeing a consultant.

Paul Goggins: Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease in the Western Health and Social Services Board area are usually referred to consultants in either neurology, or care of the elderly services.
	Within these specialty areas, there are six whole-time equivalent consultants employed in the Western Health and Social Services Board area who treat patients suffering from Parkinson's disease.
	Information on waiting times specific to Parkinson's disease is not available. By March 2007, however, no one will be waiting more than six months for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant.

Parkinson's Disease

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many consultants trained to address the needs of people with Parkinson's disease were employed in the Western Health and Social Services Board area in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: There are a number of consultants in 'care of the elderly' and consultant neurologists employed within the Western Health and Social Services Board area who treat patients with Parkinson's Disease.
	Information on these consultants (headcount) is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Consultants  2002( 1)  2003( 1)  2004( 1)  2005( 1)  2006( 1) 
			 Foyle 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 2 2 2 2 2 
			 Allnagelvin(2,3) 2 2 3 3 3 
			 Total 5 5 6 6 6 
			 (1 )Year Ending 31 December. (2 )Two consultants in 'care of the elderly' at Altnagelvin have experience in dealing with people with Parkinson' s. One consultant holds a movement disorder clinic once per month with the Parkinson's Nurse. (3 )In addition both 'care of the elderly' consultants at Altnagelvin see patients with Parkinson's on a regular basis throughout their clinics, but these clinics are not specifically for Parkinson's patients.

Prisons

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost of a new adult male prison to replace the existing prison at Magilligan, County Londonderry.

Paul Goggins: At this early stage a design team has yet to be appointed and the brief developed. However, for the purposes of strategic planning the indicative cost of construction is envisaged as £150 to £175 million.

Rates Collection Agency

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff are employed by the Rates Collection Agency to process owner occupier housing benefit applications.

David Hanson: There are 71.5 posts allocated to processing housing benefit applications. Currently 53.5 of these posts are filled.

Serious Organised Crime Agency

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether it is his policy that the Serious Organised Crime Agency should come under the remit of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.

Peter Hain: In line with changes to criminal justice and policing structures across the United Kingdom, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has already been given the power to investigate serious complaints made against the Serious Organised Crime Agency while SOCA is engaged in activity in Northern Ireland. This authority is by way of an agreed protocol between the Ombudsman and SOCA, facilitated by provisions under the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Absconding Prisoners

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many adult prisoners absconded from prisons in Lancashire in each of the last five years, broken down by category of conviction; how many such prisoners are still at large, broken down by category of conviction; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The following table sets out the number of adult prisoners who have absconded from Kirkham open prison in Lancashire for each of the last five financial years. It would be possible to obtain information concerning each individual prisoner's category of conviction only at disproportionate cost.
	Accurate figures for recaptured prisoners are currently available only at a disproportionate cost. However, a special exercise earlier this month has shown that around three quarters of all absconders are returned to prison within 12 months of absconding.
	
		
			  Adult prisoners who have absconded from Kirkham open prison for each of the last five financial years 
			   Number of absconds 
			 2001-02 163 
			 2002-03 208 
			 2003-04 213 
			 2004-05 120 
			 2005-06 74 
			 2006-07(1) 36 
			 (1)April to December 2006

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acceptable behaviour contracts were issued in Essex in 2006.

Tony McNulty: Data on numbers of ABCs are not collected by the Home Office as they are voluntary agreements and therefore not suitable for central data collection.
	However, three annual surveys carried out by the Home Office of the crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) indicated that in England and Wales a total of 18,349 ABCs were made between October 2003 and September 2006.

Alcohol Disorder Zones

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress towards the introduction of Alcohol Disorder Zones.

Vernon Coaker: Sections 15-20 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 provide for local authorities, in certain circumstances, to designate Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) where some alcohol licensees can be charged for additional enforcement.
	The Act provides for regulations and guidance to cover the use of ADZs. Work is well in hand, with statutory and industry stakeholders, on developing draft guidance and regulations which will be subject to a formal public consultation in the spring. Following the consultation, regulations will be placed before Parliament at the earliest opportunity.
	The earliest possible date for commencement of ADZs will be 1 October 2007, in line with the Common Commencement Date (CCD) initiative for regulation bearing on business.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make individual support orders a compulsory component of antisocial behaviour orders.

Tony McNulty: When making a stand-alone antisocial behaviour order on a person aged 10 to 17 the court must consider making an individual support order (ISO) if it believes that an ISO would help prevent further antisocial behaviour. The youth offending team provides advice to the court on whether an ISO is necessary which is based on a needs assessment of the young person. This arrangement allows for local discretion on a case by case basis, and acknowledges that in some cases an ISO might replicate, or conflict with, an existing support programme.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department collects data on the  (a) age,  (b) ethnicity,  (c) criminal record and  (d) educational record of each person subject to an antisocial behaviour order.

Tony McNulty: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) are civil orders for which age data are collected centrally. Ethnicity, criminal record and educational record are not collected centrally as part of the statistical data collection of ASBOs issued.

Asset Recovery Agency

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Asset Recovery Agency's costs and revenue recovery data will continue to be published on a quarterly basis after its absorption into the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

John Reid: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The Assets Recovery Agency's costs and revenue recovery data are at present published annually in its Annual Report and Resource Accounts. The Director monitors and manages performance against targets throughout the year. Similar information on the recovery of criminal assets will be included in the Annual Report of the Serious Organised Crime Agency when both agencies are merged.

Biometric Data

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have shared biometric data with private sector organisations.

Joan Ryan: The Home Office does not share biometric data with any private sector organisations except where such organisations are providing technology services, so that the Home Office may gather and use that data, under contract. Those contractors are required to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, as is the Home Office, and may not use the biometric data for any purpose other than those specified under the contractual arrangements.

Child Sex Offenders

Alan Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 18 December 2006,  Official Report, columns 1660-1W, on child sex offenders, how many people were  (a) sentenced to immediate custody and  (b) sentenced to life or indeterminate sentence for sexual assaults against children in each of the last 10 years; and what the average sentence was over that period.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is shown in the table. Data for 2004 and 2005 are not comparable to data from previous years given changes in offence classifications in May 2004. This is confined to offences of indecent assault on male and female persons under 16 years (to May 2004) and sexual assault on male and female persons under 13 (from May 2004) but excludes offences of sexual assault against persons aged 14 and under 16 since May 2004 as these cannot be separately distinguished on the Home Office Courts Proceedings Database.
	
		
			  Persons sentenced to immediate custody and average custodial sentence length( 1)  for sexual assaults against children( 2) , England and Wales, 1996 to 2005 
			   Persons sentenced to immediate custody  Of which, sentenced to life or indeterminate sentence  Average custodial sentence length( 1)  (months) 
			 1996 1,133 — 24.8 
			 1997 1,128 — 25.2 
			 1998 1,100 — 25.7 
			 1999 1,090 — 25.7 
			 2000 1,030 — 26.2 
			 2001 941 — 27.4 
			 2002 956 — 28.5 
			 2003 902 — 28.5 
			 2004 959 — 28.7 
			 2005 571 2 32.8 
			 (1 )Excluding life and indeterminate sentences. (2) Offences of indecent assault on male and female persons under 16 (to May 2004) and sexual assault on male and female persons aged under 13 (from May 2004). Sexual assaults on persons aged 14 and under 16 since May 2004 are excluded.  Notes: Although care is taken in collating and analysing the returns used to compile these figures, the data are of necessity subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Consequently, although figures are shown to the last digit in order to provide a comprehensive record of the information collected, they are not necessarily accurate to the last digit shown.  Source: RDS-NOMS, Home Office.

Criminal Justice Act

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average period elapsed between sentencing and tariff setting in each year since 1997.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 25 January 2007
	The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Hunting Act

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the police in upholding the Hunting Act 2004 since its introduction; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Enforcement of the Act is an operational matter for chief constables. The police have made it clear that they will enforce the act where there is evidence of the law being broken. The Association of Chief Police Officers has issued guidance for police forces on the practical aspects of enforcing this legislation.

Iris Scans

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether iris scans are to be included in passport chips; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ryan: The e-Passport, which was introduced in 2006, contains an embedded chip which holds data on the bearer in line with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) recommendations. At present this data is limited to biographical data such as name, date of birth etc. and a digital photograph of the passport holder. In the future, in line with other European countries, we plan to include images of two of the passport holder's fingerprints but we have no plans to store images of the passport holder's irises on the passport chip.

Ministerial Correspondence

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the cost of producing and sending his recent letter to magistrates on the use of incarceration.

John Reid: The Home Secretary did not send a letter to sentencers. A statement by the three criminal justice Ministers—the Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney-General—was issued to members of the National Criminal Justice Board and sent in electronic format to the Chairmen of Local Criminal Justice Boards. It was also placed on the judicial intranet by the Judicial Office.

Neighbourhood Policing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government are on target to meet their commitment that every area in England will have its own neighbourhood policing team by 2008.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 26 January 2007
	We remain committed to our target of a neighbourhood policing team in every area in England and Wales by April 2008. The police service has already made excellent progress with neighbourhood policing now extended to more than 6,700 neighbourhoods in England and Wales.

Non-violent Offenders

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the re-offending rate was of non-violent offenders who received  (a) a non-custodial sentence and  (b) a custodial sentence of less than three months in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 22 January 2007
	The most recent re-offending information for adults in England and Wales was published in November 2006 as; 'Re-offending of Adults: results from the 2003 cohort' Home Office Statistical Bulletin 20/06. The report is available on line at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb2006.pdf
	The report shows two year re-offending rates broken down by offence type (Table A4). It also includes re-offending rates by sentence type and length of custodial sentence (Page 9).

Passports

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which contractors have been responsible for operating the secure delivery of passports for the Identity and Passport Service since 1 January 2003; and what estimate he has made of the  (a) number and  (b) percentage of passports mislaid by such contractors each year since 2003.

Joan Ryan: Passports were delivered by First Class post in 2003, and during this year 3,593 passports were recorded as lost. This equates to 0.06 per cent. of passports produced.
	Secure Mail Services commenced the Secure Delivery of passports on 9 February 2004, and losses since this contract commenced are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 February 2004 to January 2005 601 
			 February 2005 to January 2006 1,018 
			 February to October 2006 654 
		
	
	These losses equate to around .013 per cent. of output over this period, a reduction of 80 per cent. over the losses previously experienced.

Penalty Tickets

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many penalty tickets have been issued in Surrey to individuals for offences other than road traffic offences in the last 12 months; what the value was of such issued tickets; and what percentage of such value has been collected.

Vernon Coaker: The penalty notice for disorder (PND) scheme was introduced in England and Wales in 2004. Under the scheme, the police are able to issue persons suspected of committing specified minor offences with a fixed penalty notice of £50 or £80. No admission of guilt is required and payment of the penalty discharges all liability to conviction for the offence. Data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform show that 641 PNDs were issued in the Surrey police force area in 2005 which is the most recent 12 month period for which complete and finalized data are available. Of these, 517 were issued for 'higher tier offences' which attract a penalty of £80; the remaining 124 were for 'lower tier offences' which attract a penalty of £50. The total value of these tickets was £47,560. Data for 2006 will be available in mid 2007.
	The initial payment rate for PNDs in Surrey was 63 per cent. in 2005. 35 per cent. of PND recipients had a fine of one and a half times the penalty registered against them, as they failed to pay the penalty or request a court hearing within the 21 day suspended enforcement period. Once registered, these fines fall into the HMCS fine enforcement and collection systems. Figures provided by the Courts Service show that the courts achieved an overall payment rate for all kinds of fines of 83 per cent. in 2005-06.

Police

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the employee contribution rate is to the Police Pension scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: There are two Police Pension schemes in England and Wales; the Police Pension scheme (1987) (PPS) and the new Police Pension scheme (2006) (NPPS) which was introduced for new entrants with effect from 6 April 2006. The employee contribution rate for the PPS is 11 per cent. of pensionable pay (7.5 per cent. if an officer is ineligible for ill-health benefits). The employee contribution rate for the NPPS is 9.5 per cent. of pensionable pay (6 per cent. if an officer is ineligible for ill-health benefits).

Police

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints the police received about the activities of illegal street traders in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is not recorded centrally.

Police

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1544W, on the police, if he will place in the Library a list of the police forms which have been eliminated.

Tony McNulty: The information on the nearly 9,000 police forms no longer in use, is not held centrally.

Police

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost was of police force pensions in each of the last nine years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of police force pensions in each of the next five years.

Tony McNulty: Information on the total cost of police pensions in payment for each of the last nine years is not held centrally as the administration of the Police Pension schemes is the responsibility of individual police authorities. Information on financial statistics, including expenditure on police pensions, for police forces is included in the annual reports published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). This information is gathered independently of the Home Office.
	The figures given in the following table are the most recently published projections of total future expenditure on police pensions in England and Wales, net of the contributions made by serving officers. These were produced by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD) as part of the consultation process in 2005 on the new system for financing police pensions.
	GAD advises that in view of the time elapsed since the figures were produced they should be viewed only as indicative of the likely future trend of police pensions expenditure.
	The system for financing police pensions changed on 1 April 2006. Under the new system, police authorities no longer have to meet the cost of pensions in payment out of their operating accounts. Police authorities now have a separate pensions account for this purpose, into which are paid officers' contributions and a new employer's contribution (currently 24.6 per cent. of each officer's pensionable pay). Any shortfall in an authority's pensions account each year is topped up with a grant from central Government; any surplus is recouped. A key benefit of this change is that it takes away from police authorities the responsibility for meeting the rising cost of pensions in payment as a result of increases in the number of pensioners.
	
		
			  Financial year  Estimated expenditure (£ billion) 
			 2007-08 1.61 
			 2008-09 1.74 
			 2009-10 1.88 
			 2010-11 2.00 
			 2011-12 2.12 
			 2012-13 2.25 
			  Note: GAD projections of total future expenditure on police pensions in England and Wales (2005)

Police

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1545W, on police community support officers, what evidence he has considered on the effect of the use of stab vests on the safety of employees of the police force.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 30 January 2007
	The Home Office Scientific Development Branch develops and publishes standards for a range of protective equipment for the police and advises police forces and the Government on protective equipment for police use, ensuring that officers have the equipment they need to protect themselves and the public. However the decision on deployment and equipment of PCSOs in each force remains a matter for the chief constable.

Police Cells

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to provide extra emergency cells in London to ensure that prisoners no longer have to sleep overnight in court cells.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) aims to maximize the use of all available space within the prison estate. This allows spaces to be made available in London to manage the increasing demand for prison places by the courts. The Chief Executive of NOMS formally reactivated Operation Safeguard on Monday 22 January. The Metropolitan Police Service has made a number of places available.

Police Cells

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the capacity is of police cells in England and Wales; and how many of these cells are occupied by prisoners relocated there under Operation Safeguard.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 January 2007
	The capacity of police cells in England and Wales is not held centrally.
	The number of prisoners held in police cells varies on a daily basis and is dependent on court activity and the management of regional prison population pressures. We aim to hold prisoners in police cells for the minimum period and not more than a few days, unless they are appearing regularly at a local court. Under the reactivation of Operation Safeguard, triggered on 22 January 2007, there are approximately 400 places available nationally.

Police Community Support Officers

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers were employed in Essex in each of the last five years; how many he expects to be employed by 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is set out in the following table. PCSOs were first recruited in Essex in 2002-03 so figures have been shown from that period. The Essex Police has a target of 362 police community support officers for April this year and in support of this will receive funding totalling £5 million in 2006-07, increasing to £6.7 million in 2007-08. It is a matter for the chief constable and the police authority to take decisions on the number of police community support officers and other staff that the force should employ by March 2008.
	
		
			  Essex police: police community support officers 
			  31 March  Number of police community support officers( 1) 
			 2003 10 
			 2004 86 
			 2005 179 
			 2006 192 
			 2006 296 
			 (1 )All figures are full time equivalents.  Source: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics bulletins on police service strength

Police Community Support Officers

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what factors were taken into account when deciding not to supply police community support officers with handcuffs;
	(2)  what response he has made to the request from Unison to provide police community support officers in the west midlands with stab vests.

Tony McNulty: holding answers 22 and 26 January 2007
	A chief officer may designate a PCSO with the power to use reasonable force in carrying out the relevant powers designated to that officer under schedule 4 of the Police Reform Act 2002.
	The use of handcuffs or other restraint or protective equipment by PCSOs is an operational matter for the chief officer.

Police Community Support Officers

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the target for the recruitment of police community support officers has been changed from 24,000 to 16,000.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 22 January 2007
	I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement on 27 November 2006,  Official Report, columns 82-86WS.

Police Community Support Officers

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) police community support officers and  (b) police officers were recruited to Humberside police force in each year since 2002.

John Reid: The available data are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Police community support officer and police officer recruits to Humberside police from 2002-03 to 2005-06( 1) 
			  Recruits  PCSOs  Police officers 
			 2002-03 0 (2)152 
			 2003-04 20 (3)206 
			 2004-05 0 (3)147 
			 2005-06 0 (3)141 
			 (1) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March. (2) Not comparable with later years; data include transfers from other England and Wales forces and officers returning after a period of secondment. (3) Data include transfers from other England and Wales forces but do not include officers returning after a period of secondment.

Police: Surveillance

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost of operational surveillance by the police of suspected perpetrators of serious and organised crime was in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: The information is not held centrally.

Prison Service

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the  (a) extent of and  (b) reasons for (i) staff transfer, (ii) staff turnover and (iii) staff departure from posts within the Prison Service as a consequence of stress; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 29 January 2007
	Staff transfers and departures are managed at local level and the details requested are not recorded centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The Prison Service is currently working with the Health and Safety Executive to identify initiatives that will aim to reduce workplace stressors and there is ongoing work to look at the reasons why staff leave the Prison Service and also to develop a policy on stress.

Prison Service

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is given by the population management unit of HM Prison Service to prison officers who review category C prisoners eligible for a move to a lower security category prison.

John Reid: Prison Service Orders provide clear guidance to governors and staff on categorisation, including moves to open conditions. This emphasises that prisoners should be assessed as trustworthy and sufficiently low risk before allocation to open conditions, given the physical security levels common to the open estate. Formal training is given to countersigning officers who endorse reviews, who forward this training to their staff; and on the OASys (Offender Assessment System), and similar assessment tools.

Prison Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many members of HM Prison Service were disciplined for racist behaviour in each of the last five years, broken down by grade of staff member; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many members of HM Prison Service staff were dismissed for racist behaviour in each of the last five years, broken down by grade of staff member; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Central records on disciplinary cases involving public sector prison staff are currently being revalidated by reference to records held in individual prisons for the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2006. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with this information once the exercise has been completed.

Prison Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether  (a) the previous governor of HM Prison Wandsworth,  (b) the area manager for London,  (c) the performance test team leader and  (d) the performance test deputy team leader received bonus payments on completion of the performance test bid for HM Prison Wandsworth; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: It is not Prison Service policy to comment on bonuses received by individual members of staff.

Prison Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all new prisoners at each prison establishment have their fingerprints taken on entry; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Policy on the taking of fingerprints is set out in the National Security Framework, Function two - "Accounting and Control". It states that any prisoner convicted of a criminal offence, except those committed for the non-payment of a fine, must be fingerprinted upon first reception.
	Persons held under the Immigration Act 1971 must have their fingerprints taken if required for confirming their identity. Fingerprints of prisoners charged with, but not convicted of, a criminal offence may also be taken under certain circumstances with the prisoner's consent.

Prison Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 10 January 2007 to the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire,  Official Report, column 630W, on the Prison Service, who the investigating officer is required to notify of any concerns relating to the Commissioning Authority that he may have during the course of an investigation; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Professional Standards statement in Prison Service Order 1215 contains a section on conflicts of interest which states that
	"staff must bring any potential conflicts of interest to the attention of a senior manager".
	An investigating officer must, therefore, report potential conflicts of interest relating to the Commissioning Authority to the latter's senior manager.

Prison Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 10 January 2007 to the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire,  Official Report, column 629W, on the Prison Service, whether a commissioning authority aware of a personal conflict of interest is obliged  (a) to consult his own line manager,  (b) to inform the Professional Standards Unit and  (c) to inform another appropriate body; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Professional Standards statement included in Prison Service Order 1215 contains a section on conflicts of interest which must be adhered to by all staff. In particular it states that
	"staff must bring any potential conflicts of interest to the attention of a Senior Manager".
	Commission Authorities are obliged therefore, to inform a manager senior to them, but not the Prison Service Union or another appropriate body.

Prisons

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners escaped from each Essex prison in each of the last 10 years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There have been no escapes from any Essex prisons in the last 10 years.

Prisons

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in jails in England and Wales have  (a) a mental illness and  (b) learning disabilities.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally.
	However, in 1997 the Office for National Statistics undertook a survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales. It reported both on prevalence of mental disorder and on the intellectual functioning of remanded and sentenced prisoners. Further information is available in the report of this survey: "Psychiatric Morbidity Amongst Prisoners in England and Wales" (1998) a copy of which is available in the Library.

Prisons

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average number of minutes of phone calls that Category A prisoners may make each week.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 30 January 2007
	Time available to prisoners for phone calls varies and depends on a number of operational factors including regime, privileges and population. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward proposals to reintroduce the power of prison officers to strip search prison visitors suspected of trafficking drugs to prisoners.

Gerry Sutcliffe: This power has not been withdrawn.
	In clearly defined circumstances and on the designated in-charge governor's authority, prison officers, operational managers and prison custody officers may conduct full searches, previously known as strip searches, using powers contained in the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) the Firearms Act (1968), and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984).

Prisons

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acts of concerted indiscipline in prisons took place in each of the last five years, broken down by prison.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is contained in the following table. The working definition of an act of concerted indiscipline is an incident in which two or more prisoners act together in defiance of a lawful instruction or against the requirements of the regime of the establishment. The indiscipline may be active or passive and those involved may not necessarily be acting in a common cause.
	
		
			  Acts of concerted indiscipline in prisons 2001-06 
			  Establishment name  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Albany 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Altcourse 2 2 1 2 0 
			 Ashfield 2 3 0 0 1 
			 Ashwell 0 0 1 1 1 
			 Aylesbury 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Bedford 0 1 1 0 1 
			 Belmarsh 0 1 1 3 2 
			 Birmingham 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Blakenhurst 0 3 1 1 1 
			 Blundeston 1 1 3 1 1 
			 Brinsford 2 0 0 0 1 
			 Bristol 2 0 3 1 1 
			 Brixton 2 1 4 5 2 
			 Brockhill 1 1 4 3 5 
			 Bronzefield 0 0 0 2 1 
			 Buckley Hall 0 2 1 1 2 
			 Bullingdon 1 1 6 2 2 
			 Bullwood Hall 0 0 1 5 2 
			 Camp Hill 1 0 0 0 2 
			 Canterbury 2 0 2 2 0 
			 Cardiff 1 2 0 2 2 
			 Castington 4 2 1 2 3 
			 Chelmsford 0 1 1 1 1 
			 Cookham Wood 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Dartmoor 1 4 1 0 0 
			 Deerbolt 1 3 2 3 1 
			 Doncaster 1 0 1 0 1 
			 Dorchester 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Dovegate 5 2 1 1 1 
			 Dover 0 0 0 1 3 
			 Downview 1 2 1 4 10 
			 Durham 0 2 0 0 0 
			 Eastwood Park 1 2 1 1 3 
			 Edmunds Hill 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Elmley 0 0 0 2 1 
			 Erlestoke 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Escort area two (S Wales and West Court Area) 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Everthorpe 0 3 0 0 0 
			 Exeter 6 1 4 1 2 
			 Featherstone 1 1 1 0 0 
			 Feltham 2 1 3 3 7 
			 Forest Bank 1 2 1 5 1 
			 Foston Hall 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Frankland 0 0 1 2 0 
			 Full Sutton 3 0 0 2 1 
			 Garth 2 1 1 1 3 
			 Gartree 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Glen Parva 1 1 1 0 0 
			 Gloucester 0 2 0 0 0 
			 Grendon 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Guys Marsh 2 3 2 1 1 
			 Haslar 0 1 2 2 0 
			 Haverigg 0 2 1 1 2 
			 High Down 1 3 1 5 2 
			 Highpoint 4 3 6 1 1 
			 Hindley 0 5 7 4 4 
			 Hollesley Bay 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Holloway 0 1 0 1 1 
			 Holme House 0 2 0 0 1 
			 Hull 2 1 3 1 0 
			 Huntercombe 1 2 1 0 2 
			 Kirkham 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Lancaster 0 2 0 0 2 
			 Lancaster Farms 0 1 5 1 5 
			 Leeds 1 1 0 5 1 
			 Leicester 0 2 1 2 0 
			 Lewes 0 0 2 3 2 
			 Lincoln 2 6 3 1 1 
			 Lindholme 1 4 5 3 5 
			 Littlehey 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Liverpool 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Long Lartin 1 2 3 0 0 
			 Low Newton 2 0 1 0 1 
			 Lowdham Grange 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Maidstone 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Manchester 2 4 2 0 1 
			 Moorland 1 2 2 1 0 
			 Morton Hall 0 2 2 0 0 
			 Mount 1 4 1 1 1 
			 New Hall 1 1 6 2 0 
			 Northallerton 1 1 1 6 1 
			 Norwich 1 3 2 0 1 
			 Nottingham 0 0 1 1 4 
			 Onley 0 1 0 1 0 
			 Parc 3 2 15 8 1 
			 Parkhurst 4 1 0 1 0 
			 Pentonville 1 1 2 1 0 
			 Peterborough Male 0 0 0 0 5 
			 Portland 3 0 0 2 0 
			 Preston 0 1 2 0 0 
			 Ranby 5 3 1 0 1 
			 Reading 3 1 0 0 0 
			 Risley 0 0 1 7 3 
			 Rochester 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Rye Hill 3 0 0 3 0 
			 Send 0 0 1 0 2 
			 Stafford 0 2 1 3 2 
			 Stocken 0 1 0 0 3 
			 Stoke Heath 2 0 2 1 5 
			 Styal 0 1 0 5 1 
			 Swaleside 0 3 2 0 0 
			 Swansea 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Thorn Cross 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Verne 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Wakefield 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Wandsworth 1 2 3 4 0 
			 Wayland 0 0 1 2 0 
			 Weare 0 3 5 6 0 
			 Wellingborough 0 0 3 1 2 
			 Werrington 1 1 0 1 2 
			 Wetherby 3 2 1 3 1 
			 Whitemoor 1 1 5 0 2 
			 Winchester 0 2 1 1 0 
			 Wolds 0 1 1 2 0 
			 Woodhill 7 6 0 1 1 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 3 0 0 1 0 
			 Wymott 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Total 116 147 163 163 141

Security Industry Authority

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will increase the powers of the Security Industry Authority in relation to wheel clamping.

Vernon Coaker: There are currently no plans to increase the powers of the Security Industry Authority in the regulation of wheel-clamping.

Sexual Offences Act

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted for offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 since the Act came into force.

Vernon Coaker: The Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force on 1 May 2004. Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform show that in 2004 and 2005 5,126 persons were convicted of offences under the Act.

War Criminals

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to contact the director of the Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen zur Aufklärung von NS-Verbrechen in Ludwigsburg, Germany for details of former German prisoners of war held in the UK who appear on the black list of special category prisoners of war and who may now be resident in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Details of the Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen were known to the War Crimes Inquiry which reported in 1989 and it would therefore be for the police to consider if information from these records would now assist them in any particular war crimes investigation.

Wreck Salvage Offences

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of offences related to taking goods and other material washed up from a wreck in each year since 1981.

Vernon Coaker: Under sections 237 (2), 245 and 246 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, prosecutions can be brought for various offences related to the possession or sale of goods taken from a shipwreck. Under section 236 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 prosecutions can be brought for failure to report any wreck material to the Receiver of Wreck.
	The Maritime and Coastguard agency advises that there have been no prosecutions for these offences since 1993. The role of Receiver of Wreck was centralised and taken on by the (then) Coastguard Agency in 1993, so data from 1981-1992 are not available as the role was then dealt with on a local basis by Customs and Excise.

Young Offenders

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) male and  (b) female (i) juvenile and (ii) young adult offenders were held in secure accommodation in each region in England and Wales in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the numbers of young adult offenders, grouped together with juvenile offenders,  (a) male and  (b) female in each region in England and Wales since 1997 can be found in the following table. Information on the numbers of juvenile young offenders taken separately covering the period requested could not be obtained without disproportionate cost.
	The figures provided have been drawn from administrative IT systems.
	Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system, and although shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level.
	
		
			  Young persons detained in prison establishments in England and Wales, by region, 1997-2006 (as at 30 June each year) 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  High security   
			 Male — — 92 84 90 158 137 106 113 127 
			 Female — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Total — — 92 84 90 158 137 106 113 127 
			
			  Contracted out   
			 Male — — — — — — — 1,198 1,231 1,328 
			 Female — — — — — — — 2 31 32 
			 Total — — — — — — — 1,200 1,262 1,360 
			
			  Central   
			 Male 1,433 1,572 1,460 — — — — — — — 
			 Female — — 0 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 1,433 1,572 1,460 — — — — — — — 
			
			  Eastern   
			 Male — — — 485 567 373 362 532 535 523 
			 Female — — — — — — — 135 114 127 
			 Total — — — 485 567 373 362 667 649 650 
			
			  East Midlands   
			 Male 880 838 831 1,298 1,369 1,093 1,083 924 957 939 
			 Female — — — — — — — 4 1 3 
			 Total 880 838 831 1,298 1,369 1,093 1,083 928 958 942 
			
			  Female managed   
			 (Male) — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Female — — — 502 517 659 557 — — — 
			 Total — — — 502 517 659 557 — — — 
			
			  Juvenile managed   
			 Male — — — — — 2,851 2,575 — — — 
			 Female — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Total — — — — — 2,851 2,575 — — — 
			
			  Kent   
			 Male 429 409 359 — — — — 382 492 484 
			 Female 3 4 1 — — — — 8 8 14 
			 Total 432 413 360 — — — — 390 500 498 
			
			  Kent Surrey and Sussex   
			 Male — — — 482 346 369 371 — — — 
			 Female — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Total — — — 482 346 369 371 — — — 
			
			  Lancashire and Cumbria   
			 Male — — — 462 490 — — — — — 
			 Female — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Total — — — 462 490 — — — — — 
			
			  London   
			 Male — — — 720 659 341 324 640 616 597 
			 Female — — — — — — — 58 69 57 
			 Total 0 0 0 720 659 341 324 698 685 654 
			
			  London N and East Anglia   
			 Male 411 382 436 — — — — — — — 
			 Female 142 144 150 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 553 526 586 — — — — — — — 
			
			  London South   
			 Male 1,014 967 894 — — — — — — — 
			 Female — — 0 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 1,014 967 894 — — — — — — — 
			
			  Mersey and Manchester   
			 Male 435 880 819 — — — — — — — 
			 Female 62 77 79 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 497 957 898 — — — — — — — 
			
			  Manchester Mersey and Cheshire   
			 Male — — — 981 996 — — — — — 
			 Female — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Total — — — 981 996 — — — — — 
			
			  Mercia   
			 Male 742 801 791 — — — — — — — 
			 Female 51 42 45 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 793 843 836 — — — — — — — 
			
			  North East   
			 Male 1,407 1,331 1,165 718 688 647 590 837 790 753 
			 Female 11 21 17 — — — — 65 63 32 
			 Total 1,418 1,352 1,182 718 688 647 590 902 853 785 
			
			  North West   
			 Male 1,347 1,172 1,161 — — 1,091 1,083 1,210 1,160 1,144 
			 Female 0 0 — — — — — 31 40 43 
			 Total 1,347 1,172 1,161 0 0 1,091 1,083 1,241 1,200 1,187 
			
			  South Coast   
			 Male 706 721 723 — — — — — — — 
			 Female 80 0 0 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 786 721 723 — — — — — — — 
			
			  South West   
			 Male — — — 1,102 1,099 710 742 723 615 642 
			 Female — — — — — — — 56 46 66 
			 Total — — — 1,102 1,099 710 742 779 661 708 
			
			  Sussex (with Surrey 2004)   
			 Male — — — — — — — 115 106 142 
			 Female — — — — — — — — 14 14 
			 Total — — — — — — — 115 120 156 
			
			  Thames Valley and Hampshire (and IOW from 2002)   
			 Male — — — 913 892 620 601 977 1,070 1,066 
			 Female — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Total — — — 913 892 620 601 977 1,070 1,066 
			
			  Wales   
			 Male — — — 428 377 460 469 — — 1 
			 Female — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Total — — — 428 377 460 469 — — 1 
			
			  Wales and the West   
			 Male 492 630 686 — — — — — — — 
			 Female 150 53 47 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 642 683 733 — — — — — — — 
			
			  West Midlands   
			 Male — — — 1,448 1,429 1,073 1,031 1,590 1,550 1,623 
			 Female — — — — — — — 46 24 24 
			 Total 0 0 0 1,448 1,429 1,073 1,031 1,636 1,574 1,647 
			
			  Yorkshire   
			 Male 1,300 1,393 1,412 — — — — — — — 
			 Female 64 109 125 — — — — — — — 
			 Total 1,364 1,502 1,537 — — — — — — — 
			
			  Yorkshire and Humberside   
			 Male — — — 1,608 1,535 1,165 1,117 1,038 1,069 1,064 
			 Female — — — — — — — 98 86 87 
			 Total — — — 1,608 1,535 1,165 1,117 1,136 1,155 1,151 
			
			  Total   
			 Male 10,596 11,096 10829 10,729 10,537 10,951 10,485 10,272 10,304 10,433 
			 Female 563 450 464 502 517 659 557 503 496 499 
			 Total 11,159 11,546 11,293 11,231 11,054 11,610 11,042 10,775 10,800 10,932 
			  Notes: 1. Over time the data categories by region have been subject to reorganisation.  2. Regional descriptions are as was extant at the time.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

BBC

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will take steps to amend the BBC agreement to provide for publication of the salaries and other remunerative arrangements of senior BBC  (a) management and  (b) presenters.

Shaun Woodward: The Government have no plans to amend the BBC agreement as proposed.

Departmental Expenditure

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the expenditure by her Department on buying, operating and supporting  (a) all commercial software products and  (b) software products produced by Microsoft was in each of the last three years.

David Lammy: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Offices

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what area of office space her Department and its agencies used in central London in  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2006; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport used 12,186 sq m of office space in 2004 and 12,865 sq m in 2006.
	The Royal Parks' headquarters used 1,643 sq m of office space in 2004 and 1,643 sq m in 2006. The figure for The Royal Parks (TRP) covers office space in TRP's HQ buildings and the offices in each individual park. Other operational spaces such as stables, garages, restaurants, etc are excluded.

Leisure Activities: Stroud

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she  (a) is taking and  (b) plans to undertake to improve the quality of life of residents of Stroud with particular reference to sporting and cultural activities.

David Lammy: The programmes supporting sporting and cultural provision offered by my Department and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are available in all towns of England, including Stroud.
	Some examples of the many actions we have undertaken or plan to improve quality of life in Stroud include the following;
	Since 1 May 1997 Lottery distributing bodies, which make funding decisions independently of Government, have made 394 awards, worth around £18 million, in the Stroud constituency. (This information is derived from the Department's lottery grant database which uses information supplied by the lottery distributors.) This includes an award of £12.34 million in July 2004 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to British Waterways for the 'Renaissance of the Cotswold Canals'.
	Over £1.5 million of Sport England lottery funding has been invested in sport in Stroud since 2004. This includes a new Stroud and District School Sport Partnership established in September 2006 to increase the amount and quality of sports opportunities for pupils in the area as part of the National School Sport Strategy.
	In addition, a Sports Development Service was launched in 2002 to provide a range of programmes and opportunities to residents, which has helped Stroud to achieve higher participation levels for sport and active recreation than the national average recorded by Sport England's 2006 Active People survey.
	We are committed to the potential benefits of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games being maximised across the whole of the UK, and are working closely with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Nations and Regions Group, which brings together representatives from every nation and region. Each nation and region is developing its own plan to maximise the impact of the Games in their area, as well as the wider opportunities to deliver a sustainable legacy from the Games.
	With close proximity to London and the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy in neighbouring Dorset as the venue for all the 2012 sailing events, the Games will be a terrific boost for all the South West including Stroud.
	South West Screen, the regional screen agency for the South West of England area, runs a number of schemes and services promoting cinema and film- making in the area. Specifically, it is supporting 'Viewfinder', a regional film festival seeking to build regional audiences for locally made films by emerging film-making talent, taking place in March. The Space, Stroud's community arts centre, is one of the venues for the festival, which is expanding this year to make the consumption of locally made films a more sustainable enterprise.

Libraries

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department is providing for library facilities for older people.

David Lammy: holding answer 30 January 2007
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 5 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1097W.

Olympic Games

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to ensure that the procurement of sustainable building materials for the 2012 Olympics is undertaken from sources across the United Kingdom.

Richard Caborn: The Government are committed to ensuring that businesses and communities across the UK, including in Wales, are able to benefit fully from the opportunities presented by hosting the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. We are working closely with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the body responsible for constructing the Games facilities, as well as the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (London 2012 Organising Committee) to realise this aim. We have established a nations and regions group involving each constituent part of the UK and English regions, and each member of the group has been tasked with developing plans to ensure that they take full advantage of the benefits presented by the Games, including procurement opportunities.
	The Government recognise that the Games present a unique opportunity to showcase the path to sustainability in the UK as a whole, including in the use of sustainable materials. The materials used in the construction of the Olympic Park and venues are a key aspect of the ODA's commitment to delivering sustainable development, and it is committed to identifying, sourcing and using environmentally and socially responsible materials. Its sustainable development strategy, published on 23 January, set out its policy in relation to use of sustainable materials in more detail.
	The London 2012 Organising Committee will manage its procurement policy separately from the ODA, but will also adopt fair and sustainable procurement principles. Its procurement policy and associated strategy is currently being developed and a sustainable development plan for the Olympic programme overall will be published in the spring.

Trooping the Colour

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1043W, on Trooping the Colour, what factors were taken into account when deciding to fly only the flags of the Commonwealth in Horse Guards road.

David Lammy: Factors taken into account when deciding to fly the flags of Commonwealth countries for Trooping the Colour include the constitutional heritage of the countries represented and the number of available flag poles in Horse Guards road.

TV Licences

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of television licences were purchased or renewed  (a) at a post office,  (b) online,  (c) by phone and  (d) by post in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006.

Shaun Woodward: The information requested is available only for financial years. In the last three financial years, the percentage of television licences obtained by the methods specified(1) was as follows:
	(1) The majority of television licences are now purchased by direct debit (DD). DD purchases rose from 56.9 per cent. of licences in 2004-05 to 62 per cent. in 2006-07 (year to date). In addition, in 2006-07 (year to date) approximately 6 per cent. of licences were purchased via PayPoint outlets and approximately 3 per cent. were over-75 licences renewed automatically without contact from the licence holder.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 1) 
			  (a) Post Office 26.7 24.0 7.5 
			  (b) Online 2.0 3.0 5.5 
			  (c) Telephone(2) — 9.2 10.2 
			  (d) Post 4.3 4.0 6.2 
			 (1) To end December. (2) Telephone sales data are not available for 2004-05.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Voluntary Sector

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the compact on relations with the voluntary sector covers the speed of payment from Departments to voluntary sector organisations.

Edward Miliband: The Compact Code of Good Practice on Funding and Procurement includes a clear undertaking that Departments and agencies should make payments on time.

Voluntary Sector

Peter Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by what date the Government expect three-year funding to be established for public funding of the voluntary sector.

Edward Miliband: The pre-Budget report stated that in the comprehensive spending review covering 2008 to 2011, Departments and agencies should pass on the flexibility and certainty of three-year funding to third sector organisations as the norm not the exception.

V Charity

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the performance of the organisation v in helping young people volunteer.

Edward Miliband: v has made good progress since its launch in May of last year, creating 42,000 volunteering opportunities for young people this year alone and attracting pledges of over £17 million of match funding from the private sector, in addition to up to £100 million available from Government. I look forward to its continuing to make further progress.

Social Exclusion

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what effect she expects personalising public services to have on tackling social exclusion.

Patrick McFadden: Personalisation is crucial to the effectiveness of the public services and tackling social exclusion, particularly among the most disadvantaged. People rightly expect services to be tailored to their own needs and circumstances. This is why the Government have introduced measures such as direct payments for disabled people and those requiring social services, specialised help for struggling pupils and stretching programmes for talented students, as well as the Pathways to Work programme for disabled people receiving incapacity benefit.

Cabinet Office Precedent Book

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many pages the Cabinet Office Precedent Book currently contains; how many individual items of advice are in the book; and when it was last updated.

Hilary Armstrong: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the then Minister for the Cabinet Office (David Miliband), to the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) on 3 February 2005,  Official Report, column 1011W.

Citizen Forums

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will place in the Library copies of each document and presentation prepared in relation to the citizen forums and policy review event held on 15 January 2007.

Patrick McFadden: The documents and presentations considered at the policy review event on 15 January have been placed in the Library for the reference of Members. Policy review presentations by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit on public services, the environment and energy, security, crime and justice, and the role of the state have also been placed in the Library for the reference of Members.

Departmental Expenditure

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the expenditure by her Department on buying, operating and supporting  (a) all commercial software products and  (b) software products produced by Microsoft was in each of the last three years.

Patrick McFadden: It is not possible to readily identify from the Department's accounting system what the cost of supporting  (a) all commercial software products and  (b) software products produced by Microsoft, was in each of the last three years. This information is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.

Duchy of Lancaster Council

Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what procedures are used to appoint members of the Duchy Council; and if she will make a statement.

Hilary Armstrong: The procedures for appointing members to Duchy Council include independent identification of individuals with relevant experience and expertise and a selection process from a shortlist of candidates through interviews by a panel comprising of senior Duchy officers together with an independent representative, usually from the Treasury.

Government Websites

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the URL is of each Government website which has been closed as part of the Government's programme of website consolidation.

Patrick McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) on 26 January 2006,  Official Report, column 2127W.

Government Websites

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many individual visitors accessed the Directgov website via  (a) Sky,  (b) Ntl,  (c) Telewest and  (d) mobile phones in the last year for which figures are available.

Patrick McFadden: Figures for Sky, Ntl and Telewest are only available since the launch of a new application in mid-August 2006. It should be noted that these figures are for visits to Directgov and not for individual visitors. Television access can be used by a number of individuals within a household, making it impossible to accurately measure unique visitors.
	In the five month period from August 2006 to mid January 2007, visits (rounded to the nearest thousand) are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Visits to Directgov 
			   Number 
			  Television access  
			 Sky 25,000 
			 Ntl 11,000 
			 Telewest 18,000 
			   
			  Mobile phone access (1)20,000 
			 (1)Number of visits in the 11 months from February 2006 to December 2006 
		
	
	Early indications from audience research currently in progress on the Directgov digital TV service are that users are primarily those who do not use, or rarely use, the internet. They are also more likely to be unemployed or homemakers.
	The Directgov mobile phone service is currently in the pilot stage and to date has received no marketing. The service launched in December 2005 was a limited information service only available to O2 i-mode customers. Visitor numbers are not available for the first two months whilst the additional tracking, necessary for measuring visitor numbers, was built.

Local Markets

Ann Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the potential role of local markets as social spaces in delivering the Government's social inclusion policy objectives;
	(2)  what steps the Department is taking to support and develop the role of local markets in helping deliver its social inclusion policy objectives; and if she will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The Action Plan on Social Exclusion, launched in September 2006, deliberately focuses on a series of immediate changes and pilots built around a lifetime approach to tackling exclusion, primarily aimed at helping the most disadvantaged. I am aware of the recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation research that highlighted the significant role that markets can play as a site of social interaction and civic engagement—particularly for vulnerable and isolated members of the community. However, to date, no assessment has been made of the potential role of local markets as social spaces in delivering the Government's social inclusion policy objectives.

Public Sector Information Regulations

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps the Government are taking to increase awareness in the public sector of the re-use of public sector information regulations.

Vera Baird: I have been asked to reply.
	Ministerial responsibility for the re-use of public sector information now rests with ministers in the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) has participated in a series of workshops, conferences, seminars and briefings for public sector organisations across the United Kingdom. OPSI has also issued a wide range of guidance material in order to inform public sector organisations of their responsibilities under the regulations on the re-use of public sector information. The process of providing advice and support to public sector organisations continues.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she expects to reply to the letter of 18 December 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. A. Latif.

Margaret Beckett: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 23 January.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she will reply to the letter of 28 November 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton about Mr. M. Ahmad.

Margaret Beckett: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 10 January 2007.

Departmental Offices

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what area of office space her Department and its agencies used in central London in  (a) 2004 and  (b) 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office occupied the following net square metres of office space in central London in both 2004 and 2006:
	
		
			   Net square metres 
			 King Charles Street, London, SW1 28,878 
			 Old Admiralty Building, Horse Guards, SW1 13,993 
			 89 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall, SE1 1,259

EU: 50th Anniversary

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what events her Department is planning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on the 50th anniversary of the European Union.

Geoff Hoon: The 50th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate the European Union's (EU) achievements and promote wider awareness and discussion of the role of the EU in addressing future challenges. It is right that we should not only celebrate the achievements of the EU, but look to the future, as regards the principles that guide the decisions that we will take. The Government are planning to support a number of events to celebrate the 50th anniversary, about which I will make a statement shortly.
	The 50th anniversary will be marked in Berlin on 25 March. The German presidency is hosting an Informal Council of Heads of State and Government on that day to mark the event and is planning to issue an accompanying political declaration.

EU: 50th Anniversary

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans she has to mark the 50th anniversary of the EU and its predecessor bodies.

Geoff Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) today (UIN 117051 and 117052).

Immigration

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will take steps to ensure that the Minister dealing with immigration matters in her Department is a Member of this House.

Margaret Beckett: Ministerial portfolios are allocated to meet departmental needs, to balance ministerial work loads in a coherent thematic manner and to reflect Ministers' interests and experience. I have no current plans to change the existing allocation of responsibilities.

Iraq

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that Article 140 of the national constitution of Iraq is implemented within its proposed timescale.

Kim Howells: Implementation of the Iraqi constitution is a matter for the Government of Iraq. We continue to encourage the Iraqi authorities to ensure that the process on the future of Kirkuk is as transparent and inclusive as possible.

Iraq

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions her Department has had with representatives of Turkey on the implementation by the Parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan of Article 140 of the national constitution of Iraq.

Kim Howells: The implementation of Article 140 of Iraq's constitution is a matter for the sovereign Government of Iraq and its people. We are aware of Turkish concerns about the future of Kirkuk and have held regular and wide-ranging discussions with Turkey about the situation in Iraq. Our exchanges on Article 140 have focused on encouraging the Iraqi authorities and the UN to ensure that the process on the future of Kirkuk is as transparent and inclusive as possible.

Iraq

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what her latest estimate is of the number of Iraqi civilians killed by the regime of Saddam Hussein; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Mullin) gave the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr. Donaldson) on 23 March 2005,  Official Report, columns 886-87W.

Islamabad: Entry Clearance Office

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will take steps to inquire into the reasons for the recent failures by the Entry Clearance Office in Islamabad to grant visas following successful appeals.

Margaret Beckett: We acknowledge that there have been delays in the visa section in Islamabad between the allowing of an appeal and the subsequent issue of a visa.
	These were largely due to volumes of appeals and a staff shortage during the summer period last year. A new Head of the Appeals Section was appointed to the Visa Section in Islamabad at the end of last summer to address these issues.
	In addition, there were previously delays with the unaccompanied diplomatic bag, through which until recently all appeals have been forwarded to Islamabad. However, since early January all appeal determinations are now emailed directly to the Visa Section in Islamabad from the Home Office. This will result in a much quicker turn around and the ability to track appeal determinations sent.
	With the appointment of the Head of the Appeals Section, an increase in the entry clearance officer contingent at post and the electronic despatch of appeal determinations, the Visa Section in Islamabad hopes to significantly reduce the delay in the issue of allowed appeal visas.

Somalia

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the extent to which the Transitional Government enjoys popular support in Somalia; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: There is no objective measure of the popularity of the Transitional Federal Government.
	The Transitional Federal Government was formed in 2004 out of the Nairobi peace process which brought together leaders from across Somali society to agree the Transitional Federal Charter. This included agreement to a constitutional process eventually leading to elections. All major clans are represented in the Transitional Federal Government, which is recognised by the international community as the key mechanism to restore peace, stability and governance to Somalia.
	We are pressing the Transitional Federal Government to be inclusive and reach out to all Somalis in seeking a lasting and peaceful solution for Somalia.

Somalia

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the extent to which the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) enjoys popular support in Somalia; and whether she classifies the ICU as a terrorist organisation.

Margaret Beckett: There is no objective measure of the popularity of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). The UIC has ceased to exist as an effective entity following the recent fighting. The UIC is not proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK.

United States

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to the US authorities about Jamil el-Banna and Bisher el-Rawi.

Kim Howells: The Government are not in a position to provide consular assistance or diplomatic protection to foreign nationals, including those held at Guantanamo Bay. However, we discuss a wide range of detainee issues, including Guantanamo Bay, with the US Administration on a regular basis. As part of these regular exchanges we have raised humanitarian issues relating to detainees who were formerly resident in the UK, including Mr. el-Banna and Mr. al-Rawi.
	Additionally, in April 2006 my right hon. Friend the then Foreign Secretary (Mr Straw) wrote to the US Secretary of State to request exceptionally Mr. al-Rawi's release and return from Guantanamo Bay, having considered particular fact-specific circumstances in his case. Detailed discussions between our Governments have continued ever since.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Post-Kyoto Agenda

Lynda Waltho: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress the Government have made on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda.

John Prescott: I am sure that my hon. Friend will be aware that the UK is on track not only to achieve but in fact to well exceed our Kyoto targets. We are one of the few countries to be in this position.
	The Government are continuing to take measures to tackle climate change, both at home and internationally. The UK was the only member state to propose an acceptable cap in our national allocation plan for the next stage of the European Union emissions trading scheme.

Health Care and Public Health

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent steps he has taken to improve the co-ordination of Government policy on health care and public health.

John Prescott: I chair the Cabinet Committee on Public Health, which co-ordinates and monitors the implementation of the Government's policies to improve public health and reduce health inequalities.

Ministerial Visits

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2006,  Official Report, column 858, on ministerial visits, what the evidential basis was for his statement that the Government achieve better value for money from spending on hospitality and travel than the previous Administration.

John Prescott: I have nothing to add to my previous answer.

Departmental Travel Budget

Gregory Barker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Departmental expenditure on travel has been in the last six months.

John Prescott: Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas travel undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more and the total cost of all Ministers' travel overseas. Information for 2006-07 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the financial year.

China

David Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of China's pattern of energy consumption.

John Prescott: The International Energy Agency predicts that the world's primary energy demand will increase by just over 50 per cent. between now and 2030—if current policies continue. China, alone, is expected to account for a third of this increase.
	This underlines the importance of working with China and other emerging economies to tackle the global challenges of energy security and climate change. The UK continues to work closely with China, bilaterally and through international forums, on the promotion of clean and energy efficient technologies, such as the EU-China Near-Zero Emissions Coal (NZEC) project, which will assist China in meeting its future energy requirements in a sustainable manner.
	As Chair of the China Task Force I have placed issues of sustainability, including energy sustainability, at the heart of our relationship with China. I am currently working with UK experts and business leaders to draw up specific proposals for ensuring the creation of sustainable cities.

Carbon Emissions

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when his Office began to measure its carbon emissions; what the volume of those emissions was in the last period for which figures are available; when his Office started to offset those emissions; what the cost is expected to be of offsetting his Office's emissions in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much he has spent on carbon offsetting for air travel in the past 12 months.

John Prescott: My office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office estate and figures for individual parts of the estate cannot be disaggregated. I refer the hon. Members to the reply from the Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, North on 20 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1467W, and the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 23 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1731W. My Department participates in the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund and will make payments at the appropriate time in order to off-set our air travel emissions.

Departmental Staff

Oliver Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many of his departmental staff have  (a) resigned from his Department and  (b) been allocated to a different department since its creation.

John Prescott: I refer the hon. gentleman to my reply to his previous question on 4 December 2006,  Official Report, column 109W.

Ministerial Travel

John Redwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many official journeys he has made by train since May 2005.

John Prescott: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) on 21 November 2006,  Official Report, column 67W.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Adult Dependency Allowance

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason backdated payments of the adult dependency allowance are not permitted.

Anne McGuire: A person has three months in which to claim an adult dependency increase. Provided the conditions of entitlement are satisfied throughout that period, arrears of benefit will be paid.

Benefits

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) severe disability living allowance claims have been terminated in (i) pathways to work areas, (ii) non pathways to work areas and (iii) each borough of London in each quarter since pathways to work areas came into operation.

Anne McGuire: The information has been placed in the Library.

Carers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of  (a) how many carers there are in the UK,  (b) how many hours, on average, they spend fulfilling their carer responsibilities and  (c) what the cost per hour of care would be to the public purse if they were not providing such care.

Anne McGuire: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the written answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Marsden) on 4 December 2006,  Official Report, column 155W.

Carers

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many carer's allowance recipients receive the adult dependency increase; and how many new carers are expected to be eligible to receive it in each year up to 2010;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the effect of the removal of the adult dependency increase in carer's allowance for new claims from 2010, as announced by the Chancellor in his pre-Budget report.

Anne McGuire: Adult dependency increases were originally introduced to recognise of the fact that many married women did not have employment outside the home. In the case of carer's allowance, the increase is paid for the carer's spouse, civil partner or someone who looks after the carer's children, where that person earns less than the amount of the adult dependency increase, which is currently £28.05 a week.
	As at 31 May 2006, the latest date for which information is available, some 410,000 people entitled to carer's allowance were receiving income support or pension credit, whereas only around 15,900 were receiving an adult dependency increase. Available forecasts suggest that some 3,000 new carer's allowance awards in 2006-07 and in 2007-08 will include an adult dependency increase. Forecasts are not available currently for 2008-09 and 2009-10.
	The Government intend to remove adult dependency increases for new claims for carer's allowance from 2010. However, adult dependency increases already in payment at 2010 will continue until entitlement ends or until 2020, whichever is earlier. Only a small number of carers who claim carer's allowance from 2010 onwards are likely to be affected by the removal of adult dependency increases for new claims, because those in lower income households receiving either an income-related benefit or pension credit will be compensated in these benefits for the non-availability of the adult dependency increase.

Carers

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to pay carers a benefit which is consistent with the minimum wage rate.

Anne McGuire: Carer's allowance is not a "carers' wage", therefore, the connection with the national minimum wage is not appropriate. It is an income-maintenance benefit for people who are not in full-time work and who regularly provide substantial care of at least 35 hours per week for a severely disabled person receiving either attendance allowance or the equivalent rates of the disability living allowance care component. People receiving carer's allowance can have earnings, net of a range of expenses including the cost of alternative care for either the severely disabled person or a child under 16 years of age while the carer is at work, of up to the national insurance lower earnings limit, currently £84 per week.

Carers

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will allow people in receipt of a state retirement pension over the age of 60 to become eligible for carer's allowance.

Anne McGuire: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 16 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1468W, to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson).

Child Maintenance Payments

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of the dedicated specialist teams referred to on page 25 of the White Paper "A new system of child maintenance" are in place as part of the Operational Improvement Plan.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested.

Child Maintenance Payments

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanism he plans to use to assess the poverty status of  (a) each parent with care and  (b) each non-resident parent in order to achieve the objective of ensuring that the child maintenance system overall is designed to maximise its positive impact on child poverty.

James Plaskitt: We will be carrying out detailed work in order to work out how best to measure the success of the redesigned child maintenance system against the objectives detailed in the White Paper; "A new system of child maintenance".
	We will use the Family Resources Survey to assess the poverty status of parents with care. Poverty is defined here as living in a household which has income below 60 per cent. of equivalised median income before housing costs; this is the internationally recognised threshold of low income.
	Non-resident parents cannot currently be identified directly on the Family Resources Survey so we will carefully consider how the proposed system of simplifying and improving the child maintenance assessment process will impact upon them.

Child Maintenance Payments

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the projected cost is of  (a) establishing and  (b) running the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10, (iii) 2010-11, (iv) 2011-12 and (v) 2012-13.

James Plaskitt: These costs will depend critically on what choices parents make; how C-MEC will finally configure its services; and the details of the transitional arrangements to the new scheme. Consequently, precise year-by-year estimates are not currently available.

Child Maintenance Payments

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether all the costs of establishing and running the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will be met by a reduction in current projected budget allocations to the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will replace the Child Support Agency when it is established and the funding of the costs of establishing and running the new organisation will be a matter for departmental planning in the usual manner. The combined effect of the reforms is, however, expected to lead to a dramatically reduced inflow of new cases. That will in turn lead to a reduced need for investment from taxpayers' resources but the resources needed to provide a high-quality service will be available.

Child Maintenance Payments

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the basis is for the decision to set the safeguard for changes in non-resident parent's income at plus or minus 25 per cent., as proposed on page 61 of the White Paper "A new system of child maintenance".

James Plaskitt: Under the current new child support scheme, any change in income of 5 per cent. will give rise to a recalculation in the liability for child support maintenance. This has led to the Child Support Agency facing a substantial workload of such reported changes. Therefore, as part of the redesign, it was decided that this threshold of 5 per cent. needed to be substantially increased. The issue was what the new figure should be.
	Two main factors affect that decision, but they push in opposite directions. The first is the need to avoid too many recalculations of liability at the outset of an application as these slow up the progress of cases from application to first payment, which argues for the figure to be high.
	The second is the need to be fair to the parties, not making the figure either too high or too low, compared to current income which argues for the figure to be low. Using plus or minus 25 per cent. in the Government's view takes appropriate account of both these factors.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward legislation to write off Child Support Agency arrears; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to paragraphs 5.36-5.37 on page 78 of the child maintenance White Paper "A new system of child maintenance".

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed by the Child Support Agency in each of the last 18 months.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 31st January 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff were employed by the Child Support Agency in each of the last 18 months.
	The information requested is shown in the Table below.
	
		
			  CSA Staffing levels—Office of the National Statistics Methodology Full Time Equivalents (rounded to the nearest 10) 
			   
			 Jun-05 10,000 
			 Jul-05 10,050 
			 Aug-05 10,100 
			 Sep-05 10,270 
			 Oct-05 10,480 
			 Nov-05 10,670 
			 Dec-05 10,650 
			 Jan-06 10,670 
			 Feb-06 10,780 
			 Mar-06 11,030 
			 Apr-06 11,140 
			 May-06 11,160 
			 Jun-06 11,280 
			 Jul-06 11,410 
			 Aug-06 11,470 
			 Sep-06 11,420 
			 Oct-06 11,560 
			 Nov-06 11,560 
		
	
	I hope you find this information helpful.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps have been taken to improve communications with clients of the Child Support Agency so that they can better understand the progress of their case as part of the Operational Improvement Plan for the CSA.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 31 January 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps have been taken to improve communications with clients of the Child Support Agency so that they can better understand the progress of their case as part of the Operational Improvement Plan for the CSA.
	As part of the Operational Improvement Plan the Child Support Agency has already started a significant programme of work to improve its client communications. An audit has identified clear opportunities for improvement and, as a result, a "Client Journey" is currently being developed which will help to ensure that communications are consistent, accurate and provide clients with the information they need at the appropriate time. This will help to make the case handling process clearer and to ensure that clients are kept up to date with what is happening.
	In addition some essential improvements have been made to the main letters that are generated by CS2, the Agency's new computer system, and the leaflets that accompany letters are in the process of being re-written to make them clearer for clients. Some initial changes have been made to the Child Support Agency website including a new options section for prospective clients who are not in receipt of benefits.
	In the future, all client communications will be reviewed and improved as required. This will include significant changes to letters generated by the new computer system and a comprehensive review and re-write of all manually produced communications; a major upgrade of the website and; in the coming year a review of the Agency's handling of its communication by telephone in order to identify ways to improve the experience for clients.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Child Support Agency is taking to increase parental compliance.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 31st January 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Child Support Agency is taking to increase parental compliance.
	The Operational Improvement Plan announced in Parliament on 9th February 2006 and launched in April 2006 aims, over the next three years, to improve our service to clients, increase the amount of money we collect and achieve greater compliance from non-resident parents. The Operational Improvement Plan can be accessed at the following location: http://www.csa.gov.uk/pdf/english/reports/oip.pdf.
	The Government has also released The Child Maintenance White Paper: A New System of Child Maintenance, published on the 13th December. The White Paper sets out proposals for; greater simplification of the assessment and compliance policy; and strengthening enforcement powers still further. The White Paper can be found at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/childmaintenance/csa_report.pdf.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Child Support Agency

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what total amount of additional unpaid maintenance has been recovered to date as a result of the Child Support Agency's Operational Improvement plan; and if he will make a statement;

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how much unpaid maintenance has been recovered through the Child Support Agency's Operational Improvement plan; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Members to the reply given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 18 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1565W.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications to the magistrates court were made to facilitate a driving disqualification by the Child Support Agency in each year for which figures are available; and how many of those applications were  (a) successful and  (b) issued on a suspended basis in each year.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested.

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 27 November 2006
	The answer is in the following table.
	DWP was formed in 2002 and information for performance bonuses is only available for the Department from this date.
	Performance bonus payments are awarded to employees on the basis of their individual performance. They are paid after the completion of the performance year.
	The expenditure incurred is as follows:
	
		
			  Table 1: The amount paid in bonuses to DWP staff since 2002 and the numbers of staff receiving bonuses 
			   Total staff receiving bonus  Proportion of total workforce (Percentage)  Total paid (£ million)  Largest payment (£) 
			 2002-03 131,747 95 21.17 6,793 
			 2003-04 106,123 75 25.29 7,000 
			 2004-05 129,855 95 38.61 10,250 
			 2005-06 123,285 95 42.82 10,400 
			 2006-07 116,096 95 40.68 20,000 
		
	
	In addition to individual performance bonus payments, DWP also paid team bonuses to selected units within the Department. The expenditure incurred is as follows:
	
		
			  Table 2: The amount paid in team bonuses to DWP staff since 2002 and the numbers of staff receiving bonuses 
			   Total paid (£ million)  Total number receiving bonus 
			 2002-03 7.8 14,000 
			 2003-04 29.4 40,000 
			 2004-05 3.3 11,250 
			 2005-06 (1)— (1)— 
			 2006-07 (1)— (1)— 
			 (1) Not applicable  Notes: 1. The information in Table 1 is based on the numbers of staff recorded on the DWP payroll systems as having received a qualifying performance mark. These are a headcount. 2. Some individuals may have received more than one type of bonus payment in any given year, which is why the information has been presented separately, and not as an aggregated total. 3. The performance bonus is paid in the financial year following the performance year of 1 April to 31 March. 4. The largest payments shown in Table 1 column 5 represent the highest performance bonus paid in the senior civil service (SCS). The largest performance bonus below the SCS was £1,750, and the largest special bonus £5,282. Both were paid in 2006-07. 5. The numbers of employees receiving a team bonus are approximations. No team bonus schemes have run since 2004-05. 
		
	
	Individuals may also be entitled to special bonus payments. The cost in a typical year for these bonuses is around £3 million with payments made to approximately 17,000 individuals (based on 2005-06 payments).

Disabled Children's Benefits

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent reports he has received on problems faced by parents of disabled children accessing welfare entitlement; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: My Department has received a report from the Child Poverty Action Group and Contact a Family 'Out of Reach—Benefits for disabled children' which discussed the take-up of benefits for disabled children. The report will be given full consideration. My officials are in contact with the Child Poverty Action Group to discuss the issues in the report.

Hotel Expenditure

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) its non-departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) other persons in each year since 2001-02.

Anne McGuire: The amount spent by the Department for Work and Pensions, including its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, on hotel and other similar privately provided accommodation for the financial years 2003-04 to 2005-06 is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Hotels etc.  Spend (£ million) 
			 2003-04 13.32 
			 2004-05 10.53 
			 2005-06 11.06 
		
	
	Information on the other breakdowns requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2006 is available in the Library of the House.

Incapacity Benefit

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living abroad have been in receipt of incapacity benefit in each year since 1997; what the cost of such payments was in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance (IB/SDA) claimants living abroad 
			   Caseload (Thousand) 
			 May 1997 10.00 
			 May 1998 9.40 
			 May 1999 9.00 
			 May 2000 10.23 
			 May 2001 10.43 
			 May 2002 10.80 
			 May 2003 11.30 
			 May 2004 11.74 
			 May 2005 12.13 
			 May 2006 12.05 
		
	
	
		
			  Cost of incapacity benefit/severe disablement (IB/SDA) expenditure claimed by people living abroad 
			   £ million 
			 1996-97 34 
			 1997-98 33 
			 1998-99 32 
			 1999-2000 36 
			 2000-01 36 
			 2001-02 38 
			 2002-03 40 
			 2003-04 42 
			 2004-05 45 
			 2005-06 46 
			  Notes: 1. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest million. 2. Caseload figures prior to May 2000 are rounded to the nearest hundred, and to the nearest 10 thereafter. 3. IB/SDA claimant figures include all IB and SDA (including IB credits only cases). 4. Caseload figures prior to May 2000 have been produced using 5 per cent. data and rated up proportionally using 100 per cent. WPLS totals.  Source: DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data—May 2000 onwards IAD Information Centre five per cent samples - May 1997 to May 1999 
		
	
	The numbers of people living abroad and receiving incapacity benefit remain at a very low level, representing less than half of 1 per cent. of the total number of people in receipt of incapacity benefits throughout the period from 1997 to 2006.
	Those living abroad and receiving incapacity benefit must also satisfy the requirements of repeated medical assessments to establish their continuing entitlement to the benefit.

Incapacity Benefit

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of incapacity benefit claimants whose capacity to work has been affected by smoking-related diseases.

Anne McGuire: No such estimate has been made as the information is not available.

Incapacity Benefit

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people who reached the first anniversary in receipt of incapacity benefit in the most recent year for which figures are available were in work  (a) one year and  (b) two years later; and how many there were (i) in total, (ii) aged 25 to 49 and (iii) aged over 50 years.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following table and represents the minimum numbers and proportions of people who satisfy the given criteria.
	
		
			  People reaching the first anniversary on incapacity benefit April 2003 to March 2004 
			   Percentage  Total  Aged 25-49  Aged 50 and over 
			 In work one year later 13 41,800 19,480 18,070 
			 In work two years later 17 52,880 26,200 20,920 
			  Notes: 1. Data on employment are available to 26 November 2006. As such, the latest operational year of new claimants for which  (a) and  (c) are answerable is April 2004 to March 2005, and the latest operational year of claims reaching their first anniversary for which  (b) and  (d) are answerable is April 2003 to March 2004 (and thus relates to people making a new claim during April 2002 and March 2003). 2. The figures quoted in this response come from data in the national benefits database and the work and pensions longitudinal study (WPLS). 3. Figures in this response are based upon periods of employment measured from the WPLS, which is based on data from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The figures given can only be taken as a minimum for the following (not necessarily comprehensive) reasons: (i) Some records show that a person started or ended employment at some point in the year, but the exact date when they started or left their job is unknown, and therefore we do not know if they were employed at the points in time specified in this query. (ii) If a person's earnings are sufficiently low that they fall below the lower income tax threshold and so are not required to pay PAYE income tax on their earnings then there is no requirement to inform HMRC of their employment (although some employers declare these jobs anyway). (iii) These data do not include the self-employed. (iv) Poor quality personal data may lead to missed matches with benefits data. (v) No 'HMRC sensitive and secure' information is supplied by HMRC (for example, HMRC employees, members of the security services).

Mental Illness: Employment

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures he is taking to promote actively the employment within  (a) his Department and  (b) public sector bodies for whom he has responsibility of people with mental illnesses in line with the advice and codes of practice produced by the Disability Rights Commission.

Anne McGuire: Under the Disability Equality Duty introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, my Department and the public sector bodies for which I am responsible are required to publish and implement Disability Equality schemes. These are plans setting out how we will carry out the Disability Equality Duty, monitor, and report on progress. In particular, this includes our arrangements for gathering information on the effect of our policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of our disabled employees and making use of that information.
	In addition, all external recruitment advertisements contain the "Positive About Disabled People Two Ticks Symbol", and the Department ensures that all applicants who declare a disability are given reasonable adjustments at each stage of the selection process to ensure they are competing on a level playing field.
	When disabled applicants are successful, all relevant adjustments are made, in consultation with the individual and expert advisers where appropriate. Managers keep under review any particular requirements that disabled employees may have, in line with the "Two Ticks" commitments.
	The Department also operates the Workstep scheme, which enables people with severe disabilities to be employed, with support from external providers such as Remploy and Scope.
	The public sector bodies sponsored by my department that are subject to these requirements are responsible for publishing and implementing their own disability equality schemes.

Non-residential Care: Charges

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment has been undertaken by his Department of the effect of increasing charges for non-residential care services on  (a) elderly and disabled people and  (b) carers.

Anne McGuire: None. Benefits are not paid to meet charges for non-residential care services, but local authorities may take those received by service users into account when assessing the level of charges to be made in line with the statutory guidance, "Fairer Caring Policies for Home Care and other non-residential Social Services", issued by the Department of Health and last amended in September 2003.

Office for Disability Issues

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times the ministerial group overseeing the Office for Disability Issues has met; who was present at each meeting; and what was discussed at each meeting.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 13 December 2006
	The Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People Ministerial Group is responsible for leading the cross-Government strategy for improving the life chances of disabled people, for establishing priorities, for identifying and securing resources, for maintaining collective commitment to the programme of work in order to ensure progress, and for reporting annually to the Prime Minister.
	This group meets quarterly and has met eight times. The agenda at each meeting relates to the implementation of the life chances report. To ensure that all Departments are represented at every meeting, where individual Ministers are unable to attend, they are represented by senior officials from their Department.
	 Ministerial attendance:
	 4 April 2005
	Alan Johnson (Chair, DWP)
	Charlotte Atkins (DfT)
	Yvette Cooper (ODPM)
	Maria Eagle (DWP)
	Geoff Filkin (DfES)
	 6 June 2005
	Anne McGuire (Chair, DWP)
	Karen Buck (DfT)
	Liam Byrne (DH)
	Maria Eagle (DfES)
	Jim Fitzpatrick (ODPM)
	Meg Munn (DTI)
	 14 July 2005
	Anne McGuire (Chair, DWP)
	Liam Byrne (DH)
	Jim Fitzpatrick (ODPM)
	Meg Munn (DTI)
	Stephen Timms (DWP)
	 18 October 2005
	Anne McGuire (Chair, DWP)
	Karen Buck (DfT)
	Liam Byrne (DH)
	Maria Eagle (DfES)
	Jim Fitzpatrick (ODPM)
	 1 February 2006
	Anne McGuire (Chair, DWP)
	Andrew Adonis (DfES)
	Liam Byrne (DH)
	Jim Fitzpatrick (ODPM)
	 17 May 2006
	Anne McGuire (Chair, DWP)
	Gillian Merron (DfT)
	 20 July 2006
	Anne McGuire (Chair, DWP)
	Ivan Lewis (DH)
	Gillian Merron (DfT)
	Angela Smith (DCLG)
	 14 November 2006
	Anne McGuire (Chair, DWP)
	Andrew Adonis (DfES)
	Ivan Lewis (DH)

Over-50 Employment

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment has been made of the effects of an employer-supported care voucher scheme on his Department's targets to improve the employment of people aged over 50 years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Government currently have no plans to extend tax relief for childcare vouchers to cover the care of adults. The Government have to look carefully at the costs and benefits of any proposal when making an assessment of the economic case for intervention in this area.

Personal Capability Assessments

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish the findings from the initial round of testing of the revised personal capability assessment.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 12 December 2006
	We carried out an initial, limited evaluation of the revised PCA descriptors and scores in October 2006 to test the hypothesis that the revised descriptors would accurately identify limited capability for work; and to enable us to begin drafting regulations. We plan to publish the report of this interim evaluation in February 2007.

Social Security Benefits: Administrative Delays

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on refunding bank penalty charges which have arisen as a result of benefit payments being late because of an error on the part of his Department in each year since 2001.

James Plaskitt: The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

State Retirement Pension

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have not received a state retirement pension payment to which they are entitled since 1 January 2007 in each region of the UK; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The information is not available.

State Retirement Pension

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many state retirement pension applications are waiting to be processed; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: At the end of December 2006, the Pension Service had 54,099 state pension applications registered on the system waiting to be processed.
	 Source:
	Department for Work and Pensions Management Information System Programme. (MISP)

Telephone Inquiry Service

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action he is taking to improve the  (a) performance and  (b) accessibility of the telephone inquiry service operated by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 24 January 2007
	The recent Government response to the Public Accounts Committee report into DWP contact centres identifies ways in which performance and accessibility are being improved:
	Technology: is increasingly being used to accurately match staff resource to customer calls;
	Processes: are being reviewed and, where appropriate, revised e.g. Jobcentre Plus is introducing a single call process for the majority of benefit customers from May 2007. Customers will access the service using an 0800 number and wherever possible have their application dealt with in one call, without the need for a call back and we are transforming our pension centres so customers can do their business in one call of 20 minutes, rather than taking two hours and several contacts;
	Organisation: Ways in which services are organised are being considered e.g. Jobcentre Plus contact centres are specialising and centralising their text phone answering service;
	Lessons: Links with other public and private sector contact centre organisations are providing valuable opportunities to learn lessons and share good practice;
	Measurement: Improvements in performance across the Department's contact centres can now be tracked and planned using the contact centre balanced scorecard. Improvement plans, like those used in Jobcentre Plus, include measures to improve call quality and the customer experience;
	Numbers: The number of telephone numbers is reducing e.g. the Pension Service is developing plans to integrate its three highest volume lines into one number during 2008.

Visually Impaired: Mobility Allowance

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received in favour of allowing visually impaired people to access the higher rate of mobility allowance under disability living allowance; and what response he has made to such representations.

Anne McGuire: Since July 2006 the Department has received 277 letters from Members of Parliament, and a further eight letters from members of the public about the access to disability living allowance higher-rate mobility component for visually impaired people. In that period we have also answered seven parliamentary questions, including this one, on this topic.
	The higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance is designed for people who are physically unable, or virtually unable, to walk. It is also available to people who are both deaf and blind and require the assistance of another person to walk to any intended or required destination when out of doors, because their particular combination of disabilities means that they are, in effect, virtually unable to walk. In addition, visually impaired people who do not qualify for the higher rate mobility component can still qualify for the lower rate of the mobility component if they require guidance or supervision from another person when walking out of doors on unfamiliar routes.
	We are discussing with the Royal National Institute for the Blind whether there is scope for improving the help with mobility-related extra costs for registered blind people who have no useful sight for orientation.

Welfare Sanctions

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what advice he has received since 11 September 2006 from the Health Professionals Advisory Group on the likely effect of sanctions proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill which could result in disabled people losing benefit.

Jim Murphy: The Health Professionals Advisory Group has not discussed benefit sanctions or the likely impact of any such sanctions.

HEALTH

Aneurysm Screening

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the pilot studies for aneurysm screening to begin; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to introduce abdominal aortic aneurysm screening for men aged 65 years; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answers 29 January 2007
	The United Kingdom national screening committee (NSC) has advised that screening for men aged 65 for abdominal aortic aneurysms can be recommended in principle subject to further detailed work, particularly on the appropriate configuration of treatment services and the provision of information and support to enable men to make an informed choice about whether to undergo screening. The NSC is undertaking further work on abdominal aortic aneurysm screening and will consider this topic again at its next meeting in March 2007. At present there are no plans for any abdominal aortic aneurysm screening pilots.

Care Homes: Disabled

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many physically disabled young adults live in care homes designed for  (a) the elderly and  (b) other care groups.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Clinical Services Centres

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are plans for a clinical assessment treatment and support centre in the Morecambe/Lancaster area.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 30 January 2007
	The six primary care trusts in Cumbria and Lancashire are currently carrying out public consultation on the details of the local implementation of the clinical assessment and treatment and support (CATS) services in the two counties. The consultation covers the location of the CATS sites, the impact on the wider health services, how the CATS can fit seamlessly into the pathway from general practitioner referral through to local hospital treatment, and whether the clinical specialties proposed (orthopaedics, rheumatology, ear nose and throat, general surgery, urology and gynaecology) are the most appropriate.
	The Queen Victoria site in Morecambe is one of nine potential sites currently under consideration for a CATS service. In total, it is likely that there will be eight CATS sites across the area.

Community Hospitals

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much money from the fund for community hospitals announced by her Department in 2005 has been allocated so far, broken down by constituencies;
	(2)  how many bids from primary care trusts to the fund for community hospitals announced by her Department in 2005 have been received, broken down by constituency.

Andy Burnham: To date 10 proposals from 10 primary care trusts (PCTs) have been received. Of these two have been withdrawn, one did not meet the criteria, three have outstanding queries which are being resolved and an announcement about the remaining four was made on 21 December. The funding allocated to these four schemes totals £44.5 million.
	
		
			  Scheme name  PCT  Constituencies 
			 Washington Primary Care Centre, Sunderland Sunderland Teaching PCT Sunderland, North 
			   Sunderland, South 
			   Houghton and Washington, East 
			
			 Gosport War Memorial Hospital Hampshire PCT Gosport 
			
			 Yate Community Health Centre South Gloucestershire PCT Northavon 
			   Kingswood 
			
			 West Somerset Healthy Living Park Somerset PCT Bridgwater 
			   Taunton

Community Hospitals

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  in which constituencies the 50 new community hospitals provided by her Department in 2005 have been  (a) built and  (b) sited;
	(2)  how many of the 50 new community hospitals to be provided by her Department in 2005 have been built.

Andy Burnham: There is no target for the number of community hospitals we intend to fund. The intention is to utilise the £750 million capital investment fund announced last July to fund the development and refurbishment of as many community hospitals and facilities as possible. To date £44.5 million of this fund has been allocated to four schemes, details of which are provided as follows. Further schemes will be announced in the spring.
	
		
			  Scheme name  Operational date  Primary care trust (PCT)  Constituencies 
			 Washington Primary Care Centre, Sunderland Spring 2008 Sunderland Teaching PCT Sunderland, North 
			Sunderland, South 
			Houghton and Washington, East 
			 
			 Gosport War Memorial Hospital Phased from April 2007 Hampshire PCT Gosport 
			 
			 Yate Community Health Centre Autumn 2008 South Gloucestershire PCT Northavon 
			Kingswood 
			 
			 West Somerset Healthy Living Park Autumn 2009 Somerset PCT Bridgwater 
			Taunton

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Minister of State will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 12 December 2006 on prescription charges for those on incapacity benefit.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 26 January 2007
	The letter was replied to on 29 January 2007.

Health-managed Networks

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department has had discussions with NHS trusts in Cumbria on moving towards a health-managed network; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 30 January 2007
	The Board of Cumbria primary care trust agreed on 17 January 2007 to set up a health managed network to develop and redesign services in Cumbria. This will bring together commissioners, service providers and patients to plan, deliver and commission redesigned hospital and community services across Cumbria. The health managed network is supported by NHS North West. The Department was not involved in discussions about the creation of this network.

Medical Training Application Service

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expected costs are of the Medical Training Application Service in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) each subsequent financial year; how many applicants are expected to use the service in each year; and how much of the costs in each year are expected to be accounted for by (i) personnel, (ii) software development and maintenance, (iii) hardware maintenance, (iv) communication networks, (v) security and (vi) archiving.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 January 2007
	The central funding costs for the medical training application service (MTAS) in 2006-07 is £1.75 million, which is funded proportionately by all four United Kingdom Health Departments. For each subsequent financial year the central funding requirements are estimated at £1.5 million for 2007-08 and for the subsequent years of the five year contract (to 2011), the estimated costs are £860,000 per year.
	This year, approximately 6,000 foundation training posts and 19,000 specialty training posts will be recruited into using MTAS. However, it is not possible to determine the numbers of applicants for these posts until recruitment is completed each year.
	The service has been procured on a fixed-price basis as outlined and it is not possible to break down the costs as requested.

National Finance Centre

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are for the National Finance Centre of NHS Professionals to go into partnership with a private company; what assessment she has made of the possibility of UK-based job losses as a result of these changes; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 30 January 2007
	NHS Professionals is currently in negotiation with NHS Shared Business Services with a view to transferring its National Finance Centre function into the organisation with effect from 1 April 2007.
	NHS Shared Business Service is a 50:50 joint venture between the Department and Xansa. It was launched in April 2005 to provide shared services to the national health service.
	NHS Shared Business Service is the preferred NHS supplier for this kind of activity. The organisation already provides finance, accounting and payroll services to a number of other NHS organisations and is therefore more able to take advantage of economy of scale and to invest in technology to improve processes where appropriate. In addition, it is stated Government policy for all the Department's governmental bodies to investigate shared services opportunities.
	NHS Professionals is conducting a full staff consultation process with the permanent workforce that will be affected by this change and this process also includes input from national and regional staff- side representatives. All permanent members of staff at the National Finance Centre will be offered roles at NHS Shared Business Services and their transfer will be conducted under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.

NHS Finance

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact on medical education provision of financial deficits in the national health service; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 29 January 2007
	Provision of undergraduate medical education is a matter for the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Funding for supporting the costs of clinical education is allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs). Each SHA is responsible for working with its local medical school(s) and national health service organisations to ensure that high quality clinical placements are available for all medical students.

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the established purchasing price, as arranged through the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, is of  (a) the most common desk top computer,  (b) an office chair,  (c) a can of beans,  (d) a carton of photocopy paper and  (e) a standard printer cartridge.

Andy Burnham: In October 2006, a number of procurement activities formerly managed by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency transferred to the NHS supply chain. The categories into which most of the items mentioned fall were part of that transfer. In addition, computer equipment is procured on behalf of Government by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
	Regarding the prices that are paid, these will vary according to whether or not a trust chooses to use NHS supply chain, or OGC frameworks, or to purchase goods and services directly from suppliers. There is no mandate to the national health service to use either service. Therefore it is not possible to calculate an established purchasing price given the number of purchasing points across the service.
	However, I can provide the standard prices as set out by both NHS supply chain and the OGC for the items mentioned. Note that prices would reduce as quantities increased.
	
		
			  Standard prices through NHS supply chain or the OGC 
			  Item  Specification  Standard cost (£)  Comment 
			 Desktop computer TBC Dell Optiplex 745 DT/SF/MT Chassis: minimum specification determined by Connecting for Health and trusts 388.00 Delivered price 
			 Office chair Sara-PS4000 Swivel, 5 year guarantee (supplied by GGI Office Furniture 43.00 Price negotiated by NHS supply chain; delivered directly by supplier to trusts 
			 A can of beans Heinz Beans 2.6 kg tin 1.30 Delivered price(1) 
			 Photocopy paper Box of 5 reams 80 g 8.40 Delivered price(1) 
			 Print cartridge HP No.45/51645A 13.40 Delivered price(1) 
			 (1) Delivered prices allow for the cost of the item, delivery within 48-hours and—if required—packaged to ward level. This means that trusts do not have to have vast supplies depots.

NHS Treatment: Foreign Nationals

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many foreign nationals were treated at hospitals in England in each year since 2001, broken down by strategic health authority.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 26 January 2007
	It is not possible to provide the information requested. Successive Governments have not required the national health service to provide statistics on the number of foreign nationals seen, treated or charged under the provisions of the "NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989", as amended.

Primary Care Trust Staff

Robert Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many permanent staff were employed by each primary care trust in England on  (a) 30 September 2006 and  (b) 31 December 2006.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 26 January 2007
	Results from the September 2006 census will be published in spring 2007. The next national health service workforce census collection will be in September 2007.

Psychologists

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment the Government have made of the merits of registering the title Psychologist under a statutory scheme; and what consultations she has conducted.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The Government set out its proposals for the statutory regulation of applied psychologists in its March 2005 public consultation document, "Applied Psychology—enhancing public protection: proposals for the statutory regulation of applied psychologists". The consultation ran from March to June 2005, and covered the subject of titles to be protected.
	More recently, the Department held a four-month period of consultation on our proposals to reform the regulation of medical and non-medical healthcare professionals, following the recommendations made by the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson and the advisory group headed by Andrew Foster earlier this year. This consultation ended on 10 November 2006.
	We are now considering the way forward in the light of responses and the Government's policy objectives. We expect to publish our proposals shortly.

Waiting Times

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in London waited for more than six months from GP referral for elective operations in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by London borough.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not yet available.
	Voluntary collection and reporting of referral to treatment (RTT) data have been under way since autumn 2006. Mandatory national RTT waiting time collection for admitted patients begins this month and for non-admitted patients in April. Publication will begin as soon as the data are of sufficient quality. Data for admitted patients are likely to be available in the spring.